MDI (Motor Development International), the brainchild of a French engineer who once designed Formula One engines, plans to have air-driven cars available on the market later this year.
They will be available in 2, 4 and 6-cyclinder "flavors" and starting at a price of $15,000.
These vehicles use Compressed Air Technology (CAT) as opposed to the regular internal combustion of the fossil-fuelled engines where small explosions of fuel push the pistons up and down. In CAT engines, compressed air pushes the pistons up and down. The result is that what comes out of the exhaust pipe is clean air, the kind you can breathe rather than gag on. Goodbye pollution.
Since a compressed air engine does not generate the amount of heat which a combustible engine would, it also means aluminum can be used to build the engine. A CAT engine weighs about half that of a standard internal combustion engine.
An MDI CAT vehicle has an aluminum chasis. Such a lighter car in turn yields higher mileage. You will also be able to refill the vehicle with compressed air at your own home at the cost of about $2 worth of electricity.
Top speed of these vehicles will be 110 kilometers per hour (68 mph) and inventor Guy Negre projects a day when his cars run non stop for 4,500 km (almost 2,800 miles) on just one tank of "fuel."
The video also shows a CAT rotary engine developed by an Australian inventor.
In terms of immediate viability and cost effectiveness, I think CAT is the now technology. And you won't be held hostage to the fossil fuel companies who have been picking your pocket for decades.
