Compressed Air Engine

[trex]

Oil in our cars? Too 20th century. Hydrogen in our cars? Too infrastructure intensive. Let's use air and turn warm air into cool air while we drive. This engine would air condition Los Angeles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq8aZVLpf-c

[GRG55]

Oil in our cars? Too 20th century. Hydrogen in our cars? Too infrastructure intensive. Let's use air and turn warm air into cool air while we drive. This engine would air condition Los Angeles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq8aZVLpf-c

yes, but the electricly driven air compressor used to refill the "fuel tank" has...a piston :eek:

[Olduvai]

Perhaps this is the future way of motoring. As long as there's electricity your motor will run. Only drawbacks ; you have to refill say every 100 miles and i'm not convinced it'll work in the heavy stuff (Mack, Caterpillar etc.). All luxuries in your car will be gone (airco, electric windows etc) as the car has to be kept as light as possible but you'll be able to move at relatively low cost.
For every day commuting it'll do just fine, and far better then with batteries as these things always break down in my experience.

[nitroglycol]

More reliable than batteries, probably, but less efficient. The Tesla (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster) reportedly has a range of 350 km (220 mi). In comparison, the compressed air vehicles I've read about have much lower ranges, and were smaller and slower. I suspect that if there is a niche for these vehicles, it would be in isolated communities and/or underdeveloped countries. Since it's not dependent on an electrical system, a compressed air powered vehicle would be a lot easier to jerry rig than a typical modern car, be it conventional, electric, or hybrid.