The auto industry is bracing itself for its biggest shift since Henry Ford used an assembly line to roll out Model Ts. The race to develop and implement a new kind of fuel - both environmentally-conscious and affordable - has been going on for years now, but we’re still a while away from a full-scale gasoline overhaul. Ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen, and lithium batteries are all vying for the title of gas killer, but there’s a new contender making a lot of noise - and that contender is...air? Well, compressed air.

Moteur Development International (MDI) is a research and development firm that has tinkered with the concept of an Air Car for nearly fifteen years. Based in Nice, France, engineers at MDI now say their latest design, the MiniCAT – CAT stands for Compressed Air Technologies – is ready for production. More importantly, Tata Motors (India’s largest automotive manufacturer) seems to concur, and have agreed to initially build several thousand of these vehicles, with plans for expansion in the next couple years for production both in India and Europe.

How it Works

In a MiniCAT, compressed air is stored in a tank underneath the vehicle and funnels into pistons where it expands to about 15 times the compressed level. The de-crompression of the air creates pressure to push the pistons which propels the car. The expansion of the air also creates a by-product of cold air that can be used to run the air-conditioning. The end result is an efficient engine generating plenty of power and having zero emissions. The biggest hurdle for any new fuel is in its availability and distribution. Here air has an obvious advantage.

Compressed-air “pumps” are inexpensive to manufacture and implement on a large scale, and as a renewable and abundant resource, air fill-ups would be far cheaper than gasoline is today. Some estimate that a full tank of air – which for a MiniCAT is about 200 miles of driving – could be as little as $3. Also in development is the CityCAT, which uses a dual-function engine to generate higher speeds and a longer range. The compressed air system is still central to propulsion, but a second system is added that takes over at speeds over 35 mph. This system is similar to General Motors’ Flex Fuel technology, meaning it can run on gasoline, biodiesel, ethanol, or other sources. When the second system is running it generates air that can be compressed and stored for later use by the central system.

Introducing it to the Populace

MDI has built compressed air engines with 2, 4, and 6 cylinders and is looking for the best way to introduce their vehicles to the market.

One goal is a taxi fleet – after all, taxis drive a lot more than the rest of us and are a good way to generate buzz. MiniCATS seem built for the city, and with several urban hubs in Europe considering a ban on gasoline-powered vehicles, the air-powered vehicle could be a popular choice indeed. CityCATs, despite their name, are made more for the suburban commuter. The Tata Motors agreement is a major first step in a very long walk. The Indian manufacturer has quickly become one of the world’s largest automakers, specializing in large trucks and buses. MDI has already built concept versions of pick-up trucks and vans for their fuel systems, and even larger vehicles are likely in the works. No final figures on pricing have been determined, but Tata and MDI estimate that MiniCATs would be around the equivalent of $10,000 in euros. Both vehicles are quick and nimble on city streets, with comparable acceleration to other economy-class cars. The higher-cylinder versions can provide more boost, but the MiniCAT tops out at around 68 mph, so it can get out on the freeway if it must. This flexibility would be more important in the U.S. should MDI expand production to our shores.

For more on these vehicles, check out MDI’s website. Already some are beginning to eulogize gasoline as a thing of the past – ethanol and other resources are certainly gunning for it. But in this race for the future, a late entrant might have what it takes to win it all. Compressed air systems are easy to manufacture, distribute, and replenish. Time will tell if running on air will have an entirely new meaning. At AutoExtra.com we strive to bring you the latest and greatest happenings in the automotive universe. Stay tuned for more on the cutting edge of fuel technologies.

From MDI News

News about MDI and our Air Car

Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology receives representatives of the air car.

A Ministerial committee meets with "Aircar" makers MDI.

This week in Madrid a high-level group concerned with transport in Spain discovered for themselves the current marketing situation of the "Aircar". Among them were the Director-general of Technology policy Dr. Arturo GONZALEZ, members of INSIA (University Automobile Research Institute), a Secretary of State, an assessor from the Cabinet of Minister ANA BIRULES and a number of engineers specialised in new technologies.

Dr. Miguel Celades, official representative of MDI, gave a brief multimedia presentation of the technical and commercial viability of the project as well as the current state of development. In the meeting, which generated much interest among the participants, MDI was invited to proceed to the market authorization of the vehicle in Spain and to the building of factories so that the Ministry of Industry and other institutions could act in support of the project.

MDI's compressed-air driven car is one of the best alternatives for non-polluting urban transport. Given that its motive power comes from expansion of pure air - and not combustion - the exhaust consists of clean air at a temperature of 15 degrees Celcius. This important environmental advantage is combined with economic ones: a cost for urban driving of less than 1 Euro per 100 kilometres, or less than 1 tenth the cost of a petrol-driven automobile. In addition, future applications of the compressed-air engine in other sectors (marine, co-generation etc.) mean the development of new parallel industries in addition to automobiles.

The environmental advantages of the compressed-air engine mean that various public bodies, in Spain and worldwide, are interested in the Aircar for their cities. The government of Catalonia has recently visited the existing factory near Nice and is regularly updated with developments. Various municipalities in Spain, e.g. Onil (Alicante) Playa de Aro (Gerona) and Salobrena (Granada) have sent their environmental officers to negotiate the purchase of vehicles for their municipal fleets and the possible situating of an MDI factory in their neighbourhood. Other countries such as Italy, China, South Africa, Israel, Cuba and France have shown much interest and sent their representatives to the factory in Nice or to the commercial centre in Barcelona.

"Even though the project is developing in France," notes Celades, "at MDI we speak Spanish. Spain is a enthusiastic supporter of the project and was the first country in the world to distribute manufacturing licences for the car, to become a seat for worldwide expansion.

The car is better known in Spain than in France, where the concept was born. We have been featured by 3 out of 5 television chains and have appeared in various national news media. Up to present we have 16.000 cars ordered in Spain with a total value of 150 million Euros.

DAVID versus GOLIATH.

Huge resources are normally associated with the automobile sector, but this operation is distinctly different. Though French shareholders speak of the inventor and managing director Guy Negre as one of the multimillionaires of the future, his company at present has only 50 engineers, compared to the thousand or so employed by each of Europe's principal car-makers.

Negre has insisted on private financing from the beginning.… "For nearly ten years we have been doing intensive research and development, trying and rejecting ideas and parts and paying salaries with high French social costs - all without selling a car. This has meant raising a lot of capital by selling manufacturing licences and using the investment of some 300 small shareholders who believed in the project.

Most public bodies in Europe have promised their support, but only when we have reached the stage of marketing the Air car, using private finance. To achieve this, we have to finalize production at our model factory at Carros near Nice to produce the first 20 final market versions of the car, which will be used to obtain market authorization (homologation) . This has resulted in some delay in the marketing of the car to the public.

In the current launch phase of the car, we need to make ourselves known to entrepreneurs and persuade them to join in this project. We are not doing this for altruistic reasons because the project will be very lucrative and will generate thousands of local jobs and many benefits. We are the only make of car to have introduced a form of licence which enables small private enterprises to participate in the manufacture and sale of automobiles. We have done the greater part of the work, though there is still much to do ,and now is the time for enterprises to get into this new industry."

In the meantime and not only in Europe, tens of thousands of deaths each year are the direct result of urban vehicular pollution. The only possible solution at present is for the major urban centres of the world to prohibit or restrict personal transport by imposing road tolls in their cities, thus limiting individual mobility. How much more intelligent it would be to use an existing solution, which would clean the urban environment without depriving us of personal mobility.