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The magnetic air car is a concept car. Instead of an alternative fuel source, the magnetic air car uses air-compressing technology to propel it. The patented technology is developed by Magnetic Air Cars, Inc., a San Jose-based company who is working on the world’s first viable fuel-less car. A French company, MDI Cars, previously showed a car based on similar principle to a BBC reporter in 2002.

Inspiration

The idea of the magnetic air car stems from the air car concept developed by J.M Custer of Piggott, Arkansas in 1932. The air car ran on compressed air. He used the engine that was developed by Roy J. Meyers. The air engine replaced the gasoline engine in standard cars. Four air tanks filled with compressed air powered the car 500 miles at a speed of 35 miles an hour. The engine did not require a cooling system, ignition system, carburetor, nor the hundreds of moving parts included in a standard gasoline motor. The compressed air took care of all of those features and left a vehicle that cost nearly nothing to maintain or use.

The Innovation

The magnetic air technology is a combination of magnet motor and compressed air motor. A battery starts a special magnetic motor to initialize the powerful air compressor, heating up the air tank in order to boost the air pressure. The air flow is then turbocharged and multiplied to where the resulting horse-pressure smoothly powers the car…

Pros

The car is environmental friendly. The source of the power is air. The battery costs less than $70 and maintenance free. It is acid free, recyclable, and long lasting. Air flow will not be a problem since the patent pending cold air bearing turbocharger creates sufficient air pressure. No fossil fuels are needed as power source. Only air is used as major power source. A patented water filtration system emits cleaner air. The disengagement of burning fossil fuels produces “zero pollution” and promotes environmental protection.

Cons

The real cost of the car is undetermined. It is not tested by any credible authorities or organizations for its safety. No experimental results are provided.

Other Comparative Green Technology & Alternative Fuels

The main purpose of alternative fuels and green technology is to reduce oil dependence and environmental impacts.

Hybrid Hybrid system includes one gasoline engine and one electric motor. In general, most hybrid vehicles charge the batteries while breaking. Diesel or other alternative fuels engine can also use hybrid technology. A hybrid drive is fully scalable, which means the drive can be used to power everything from small commuter cars to large buses and even locomotives. Hybrids get more MPG or miles per gallon than most non-hybrids, and usually have very low tailpipe emissions.

Electric Electric cars use motors that run on electric batteries which produce zero emissions. Electric cars can be charged at any location with plug-in outlets. Electric cars are extremely efficient and run for pennies per mile, much cheaper than any other alternative fuel.

Ethanol Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, is a fuel type that uses in more than 30 alternative fuel vehicle models. Most ethanol vehicles today are powered by either corn or sugar cane. It is a clear, colorless liquid with a specific odor. The raw material is sugar. The chemical reaction changes sugars into ethanol and carbon dioxide. The ethanol is used to provide power. The only emission is carbon dioxide.

Hydrogen Hydrogen may be the cleanest fuels in car industry. The hydrogen cars use combustion engine to burn hydrogen which emits only heat and water. Hydrogen vehicles are being developed by many car manufactures. The main drawback of hydrogen technology is the high cost of production and refilling.

Natural Gas Natural gas is the cleanest-burning fossil fuel. Usually, natural gas is stored as liquefied or compressed state. There are two types of natural gas engine used for automobiles, spark ignited natural gas engine and compression ignition natural gas engine. The spark ignited engine uses a spark plug to ignite fuel which is similar to a car engine. The engine features a compression ratio of 9.4:1 and has the ability to expand from 49 horsepower to 2600 horsepower. The compression ignition engine is usually used in heavy-duty trucks. The difference between spark ignited engine and compression ignition engine is that the compression ignition engine uses a small charge of diesel fuel to ignite cylinder charge. Benefited from its high compression ratio (15:1) and extremely long operating life, the engine is often used for heavy-duty applications. The cost is very low initially and builds up during later maintenance. Compared to conventional car engine, the natural gas engine is more eco-friendly. However, there are considerations of the air emission quality, convenience of maintenance service, and noise control.

Biodiesel Biodiesel is a renewable fuel source made by vegetable oil or other compatible sources. It is cleaner than standard petroleum diesel. Biodiesel is easier to be produced locally, thus has great potential to reduce oil dependence.

Air Air powered cars, also recognized as air car, use technology that is similar to the magnetic air car. The power source is compressed air, which makes the car a zero-emission-fuel-less car. The air car engine combines the mono energy engines (compressed air only) and the dual-energy engines (compressed air + energetic adjuvant). The whole system has four operating modes: mono energy compressed air, simple dual energy, autonomous dual energy, and dual energy with recompression of the tank. By using compressed air stored in tanks at high pressure, the air car can run in a eco-friendly mode.

External Links

• Magnetic Air Car Official website of Magnetic Air Car Inc.
• Technology Review on the air car
• News on magnetic air car
• Prius Official website of Toyota
• Ethanol chemical of the week
• MDI compressed air car
• Natural Gas Engine air compressors

Category:Concept automobiles Category:Alternative propulsion Category:Automotive technologies Category:Green vehicles