Tata Motors to introduce Air Car - Is it the next big thing?

Tata Motors is taking giant strides and making history for itself. First the Landrover-Jaguar deal, then the world’s cheapest car and now it is also set to introduce the car that runs on air, compressed air to be specific.

Air Car

With fuel prices touching nearly $150 per barrel, it is about time we heard some breakthrough !

India’s largest automaker Tata Motors is set to start producing the world’s first commercial air-powered vehicle. The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre for Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air, as opposed to the gas-and-oxygen explosions of internal-combustion models, to push its engine’s pistons. Some 6000 zero-emissions Air Cars are scheduled to hit Indian streets in August of 2008.

The Air Car, called the MiniCAT could cost around Rs. 3,50,000 ($ 8177) in India and would have a range of around 300 km between refuels.

The cost of a refill would be about Rs. 85 ($ 2). Tata motors also plans to launch the world’s cheapest car, Tata Nano priced famously at One lakh rupees by October.

The MiniCAT which is a simple, light urban car, with a tubular chassis that is glued not welded and a body of fiberglass powered by compressed air. Microcontrollers are used in every device in the car, so one tiny radio transmitter sends instructions to the lights, indicators etc.

There are no keys - just an access card which can be read by the car from your pocket. According to the designers, it costs less than 50 rupees per 100Km (about a tenth that of a petrol car). Its mileage is about double that of the most advanced electric car (200 to 300 km or 10 hours of driving), a factor which makes a perfect choice in cities where the 80% of motorists drive at less than 60Km. The car has a top speed of 105 kmph. Refilling the car will, once the market develops, take place at adapted petrol stations to administer compressed air. In two or three minutes, and at a cost of approximately 100 rupees, the car will be ready to go another 200-300 kilometers.

As a viable alternative, the car carries a small compressor which can be connected to the mains (220V or 380V) and refill the tank in 3-4 hours. Due to the absence of combustion and, consequently, of residues, changing the oil (1 litre of vegetable oil) is necessary only every 50,000Km.] The temperature of the clean air expelled by the exhaust pipe is between 0-15 degrees below zero, which makes it suitable for use by the internal air conditioning system with no need for gases or loss of power.

http://trak.in/tags/business/2008/07/01/ta...ir-car-minicat/

Well Congrats to the Indians... They deserve it... unlike us. The way it is going now I see Tata motors competing with the likes of Hyundai and KIA in the near future.

I saw a program on National Geographic where they built a bike running on compressed air from junk yard.

information on air cars--youtube

Extremely wise move by tata...but challenges are also enormous...If tata succeeded to overcome current problems then I believe it can change Automotive industry for good.

I would say its good for the entire subcontinent, Pakistani's included!
Coz the west has money and can afford Petrol! China has enuf clout in Africa to get wat it wants!
Africans have huge untapped petrol with them! Middle East has lots of PEtrol(Do i need to say that) The countries east of the subcontinent are also sufficiently rich!

Indians, Pakistanis, Srilankans and the rest of the motley crew in the subcontinent are the ones with lots of car, less money and not much PEtrol in their countries to afford such a steep rise in Petrol prices!

Saw the program on Nat geo Planet Mechanics if not mistaken. They actually drove an air car that was commercially available for sale to test out the feasibility of an air scooter.

What i really wanted to say was how will tata be the first manufacturer of a commercial air car, they may become first mass manufacturer but first certainly not