World’s Cleanest Car Coming Soon?
Zero Pollution Motors plans to start taking orders later this year for what could be the cleanest car on the road - the Air Car. Named by TIME Magazine as one of the best inventions of 2007, the Air Car was invented by a guy who knows his cars. Frenchman Guy Negre is a former Formula One racecar engineer. Now he’s leading the race to put these clean cars on the road.
MDI, Negre’s France-based company, has patents in over 120 countries and has already signed deals to bring the vehicle to market in India, Spain, Australia and the United States. In the U.S., Zero Pollution Motors will be manufacturing the vehicles, which run on compressed air and emit only air at low speeds. The company plans to release a six-seat, four-door version of the compressed air car in 2010 for an estimated price of approximately $18,000.
The 75-horsepower Air Car will come complete with all the features today’s drivers expect, such as air bags, power windows and locks, a CD player and even an optional GPS system. But the Air Car will offer a feature today’s car don’t - a much cheaper fill-up. The car only needs fuel at speeds over 35 mph, and then it requires only small amounts to heat the engine. According to the ZPM website, the US version of the compressed air car will get the equivalent of 106 mpg with a range of 848 miles, and a maximum speed of 96 mph. At speeds under 35 mph, the car runs on compressed air stored in scuba-type tanks stored in the vehicle, so no gas is necessary.
Once it hits the roads, the car could be the cleanest vehicle in mass production. And its emissions could even help clean the air. That’s because the air used to fill the tanks is run through carbon filters to eliminate dirt and dust that could hamper the engine’s performance. So the emissions coming out of the tail pipe are actually cleaner than the air that went in to the engine.
And even when its burning fuel, the Air Car will still run cleaner than any car currently on the road today. The compressed air car will emit only 0.141lbs of CO2 per mile at speeds over 35 mph. “That is up to 4 times less than the average vehicle and more than two times less than the cleanest vehicle available today. (Toyota Prius 07 Emissions: 0.34 lbs of CO2 per mile)” according to the ZPM website.
Clean, green and affordable. The Air Car may be just what the world needs to break its oil habit.
