Cars of the future: air instead of gasoline

In 2000, numerous media including the BBC, predicted that in early 2002 mass production of vehicles using air instead of fuel will begin.

The reason for such a bold statement was the presentation of the car called e.Volution at Auto Africa Expo2000, which was held in Johannesburg.

Stunned public was told that e.Volution can travel without refuelling around 200 kilometres, gathering the speed up to 130 km / hr. Or over 10 hours with an average speed of 80 km / hr. It was stated that the cost of such a trip would be 30 cents. Besides, the car weighs only 700 kg, and the engine - 35 kg.

Revolutionary novelty was submitted by French company MDI (Motor Development International), which immediately announced its intention to begin serial production of cars equipped with an engine running by compressed air.

The inventor of the engine is French engineer-motorbuilder Guy Negre, known as the designer of ignition systems for bolides and aircraft engines.

Negre said that he managed to create an engine that runs solely on compressed air without any impurities of traditional fuels. He called his offspring Zero Pollution, which means zero emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere.

The motto for Zero Pollution has become "simple, economical and clean", that is, emphasis was placed on its security and zero emission of pollutants to the environment.

The principle of the engine functioning, according to the inventor, is as follows: "The air is sucked into a small cylinder and is compressed by a piston to the level of pressure 20 bar. The air is warming up to 400 degrees. Then the hot air is pushed into the spherical chamber.

In "combustion chamber", although nothing burns in it, cold compressed air is also served by the cylinders, immediately warms at once, expands, pressure increases dramatically, the large cylinder piston returns and passes the working force to the crankshaft.

One could even say that the "air" engine runs the same as the usual internal combustion engine, but no combustion happens in it.

It was stated that the emissions of the car are not more dangerous than carbon dioxide, emitted as a result of breath, the engine can be smeared with vegetable oil, and electrical system consists of two wires only.

Refuelling of airmobile requires about 3 minutes.

Representatives of Zero Pollution stated that for refuelling of airmobile it is enough to fill air tanks, located under the bottom of the car that takes about four hours.

However, in future, it was planned to build air refuelling stations that can give 300 - litre bottles for only 3 minutes.

It was anticipated that the sale will begin in South Africa at a price of about $ 10 thousand. It was also announced about the construction of five factories in Mexico and Spain and three - in Australia. The car's license to manufacture had supposedly been received in more than a dozen countries, and a South African company had received an order for production of 3000 cars, instead of the planned pilot batch of 500 pieces.

But after loud statements and common jubilation something happened. Suddenly all subsided and the airmobile was almost forgotten.

Silence seems all the more ominous that some time ago Zero Pollution official site vanished. The reason is absurd: the page was allegedly unable to cope with the huge influx of requests. However, the creators of the site vaguely promise to improve it one day.

The emergence of airmobiles on the roads should have been a serious challenge to the traditional transport.

There is an opinion the development of environmentally friendly automobile is sabotaged by auto giants: having foreseen the approaching collapse, when gasoline engines will be unnecessary, they allegedly decided to destroy the upstart.

This version is partly confirmed by Deutsche Welle: "Automotive service companies and oil concerns unanimously believe the car with an air engine is flawed".

However, many independent experts are rather sceptical, especially because a number of major automotive companies - for example, Volkswagen, - already in 70 - and 80ies carried out research in this direction, but then refused because of their full hopelessness.

Almost the same point of view is supported by the defenders of the environment: "It will take a very long time to convince the automobile manufacturers to begin production of "air "engines.

Car companies have already spent a huge amount of money on experiments with electric cars, which proved inconvenient and expensive. They no longer need new ideas.

But Deutsche Welle draws attention to the fact that in various publications about the engine and basic scheme of its work contains inaccuracies and errors, besides the versions in different languages are not only rather different, but sometimes directly contradict each other.

Almost each edition gives its own technical parameters different from others. The discrepancies of numbers are so great that one can unwittingly ask: do they relate to the same car?

Another strange pattern is that with every subsequent publication parameters of the car are improving: the power increases, the price falls, the weight reduces, etc. So, there is certainly enough ground for doubt.

As a result it is not clear what happened with the French airmobile and what is its future.