tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9864176.post7890366033444364694..comments2023-12-01T16:56:04.415+11:00Comments on Peak Energy: The Ford Global Challenge - A Green Car That Runs On Air?Big Gavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682404837426502876noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9864176.post-80670608161270482292008-09-06T08:56:00.000+10:002008-09-06T08:56:00.000+10:00I wrote a couple of posts about the MDI / Tata air...I wrote a couple of posts about the MDI / Tata air car last year - see here for more:<BR/><BR/>http://anz.theoildrum.com/node/3388<BR/>http://anz.theoildrum.com/node/3526<BR/><BR/>The Australian rotary air engine is by Angelo Di Pietro - it is discussed briefly in the same posts.Big Gavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00682404837426502876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9864176.post-88906355571373333082008-09-06T01:02:00.000+10:002008-09-06T01:02:00.000+10:00It's plenty of range (200 kM/120 miles) for ~80% o...It's plenty of range (200 kM/120 miles) for ~80% of American 'trips'. <BR/><BR/>Faster is an issue?<BR/><BR/>Safety is a design issue. Small can be safe. Air bags and crash avoidance radar don't weigh much.<BR/><BR/>Make it inexpensive (which will be a lot easier to do without expensive batteries) and people will buy one for most of their daily driving. They'll keep the old ICE for the occasional long trip or rent a car for the Thanksgiving trip to granny's house.<BR/><BR/>Something like this would greatly reduce the use of petroleum for personal transportation.<BR/><BR/>BTW, seems that there is an Australian rotary air engine that's said to be more efficient than the piston engine being used by Tata.<BR/><BR/>(Don't forget that Tata has a compressed air car under development.)Bob Wallacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09823785572625960890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9864176.post-4318452589903745672008-09-06T00:01:00.000+10:002008-09-06T00:01:00.000+10:00Aside from not having much range, it seems to me, ...Aside from not having much range, it seems to me, these cars will be no faster or safer than the cars already available. If Ford was interested in bringing our transportation system into the 21st century rather than maintaining the same paradigm that existed when Henry Ford built his first car, they would be automating the system as well. If I had that amount of money to give away, I would be having the contestants designing and building a scale model of an automated system. Such a system would be faster, safer, greener, more efficient, more convenient, and cheaper than todays road/rail system. for more information and discussion about it see the national personal transit blog at npts2020.blogspot.com.npts2020https://www.blogger.com/profile/04430967075983560555noreply@blogger.com