Thursday, February 14, 2008

Car Runs on Air

From France comes a revolutionary new car that runs on fuel that is so abundant we barely ever think about it: air.

Frenchman Guy Negre, a former Formula 1 engineer, has been working on a vehicle that uses compressed air to drive pistons in an efficient, no-emission engine, and he has at last produced a working prototype, the OneCAT.

Shown at right, the OneCAT is a five seater that will cost less than $5000 when mass-produced. Indian auto manufacturer Tata Motors has taken a major stake in the development and production of the vehicle which should debut - first on roads in India - within a year.

The vehicle is supposed to be able to achieve speeds of up to 85 MPH and can be fully recharged (or refilled, if you will) with compressed air in three minutes.