Tata motors buys Land Rover, Jaguar
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 10,285
From: Albany, NY
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,597
From: Mack and Bewick
At least they aren't selling it for pennies like they did with AM.
Now all they have is thier core brands and Volvo. This new product blitz had better be a pillar of clouds by day and of fire by night... Otherwise...
Now all they have is thier core brands and Volvo. This new product blitz had better be a pillar of clouds by day and of fire by night... Otherwise...
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 4,600
From: Pewee Valley, KY
The car has an onboard compressor - takes 4 horus to fill the tanks. Of course the energy isn't free - but it's more efficient to pull energy off the grid than from an individual powerplant inside your vehicle. Compressed air is just another storage mechanism for energy - but one withotu some of the downfalls of batteries.
Gas stations didnt' have the right equipment to store E85 either until they installed it...same with hydrogen. It's a given that *ANY* new fuel/power source will require some infrastructure changes. A air compressor is a cheap, easy install.
Gas stations didnt' have the right equipment to store E85 either until they installed it...same with hydrogen. It's a given that *ANY* new fuel/power source will require some infrastructure changes. A air compressor is a cheap, easy install.
Umm it is a liquid hydrocarbon, just like gas. It isn't very viscous and will eat certain types of plastics but the changeover couldn't have been very expensive.I don't think the type of air pressure required to fill tanks w/ enough energy to power a car for 100 miles will be as cheap as you think. Add in the amount of electricity required to run those compressors (and likely the storage tanks needed to store it) and you are looking at a losing process. Sure you are spending less money directly on gasoline but you are spending the rest on all the other stuff to get a car that IMO isn't going to be worth the investment.
Using an on board compressor makes the whole process even less efficient. You will lose energy compressing the air into the tanks instead of using the energy to power the vehicle. Sure the same delima occurs w/ hybrid systems like the Volt uses but the medium of transfer is much more common and the propulsion system likely is more energy efficient.
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 10,285
From: Albany, NY
Using an on board compressor makes the whole process even less efficient. You will lose energy compressing the air into the tanks instead of using the energy to power the vehicle. Sure the same delima occurs w/ hybrid systems like the Volt uses but the medium of transfer is much more common and the propulsion system likely is more energy efficient.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 915
From: Tucson, AZ
Originally Posted by http://domesticfuel.com/category/e85/
Robert Sicard, president of UPI Energy which opened the first E85 pump in Guelph, Ont., last January, said it costs $30,000 to convert a gas pump to handle E85 and a government incentive program would help spread them across Canada much faster, as it has done in the U.S.
Last edited by indieaz; Mar 18, 2008 at 05:45 PM.
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 579
From: Rock Hill, SC
A lot of your concerns are addressed in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmqpGZv0YT4
For one, the air tanks are made of carbon fiber...so when filling them the heat is not so much an issue. Additionally, in an accidne tthe fiber will split and the air will spill out, unlike if they were made of steel or some other meta.
For one, the air tanks are made of carbon fiber...so when filling them the heat is not so much an issue. Additionally, in an accidne tthe fiber will split and the air will spill out, unlike if they were made of steel or some other meta.
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 9,705
From: Oakland, California
you plug it in and the on board compressor fills the tanks in 4 hours using $2 of electric (good for 120miles) I just found the video on it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-A3XHFT5qc
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 915
From: Tucson, AZ
All I know is if i can dump $5 of electricity into my car per week instead of $40 of gasoline we have a winner.
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 4,600
From: Pewee Valley, KY
Well, they've been literally driving prototypes around for a couple years. They already have an agreement to Manufacture them and they are supposed to be out within 2 years. So I guess we'll find out soon.
All I know is if i can dump $5 of electricity into my car per week instead of $40 of gasoline we have a winner.
All I know is if i can dump $5 of electricity into my car per week instead of $40 of gasoline we have a winner.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 915
From: Tucson, AZ
Have you read any of the information or watched the videos? 1) They are already drivable, so contiuing to doubt this is possible is a moot point. It's like saying airplanes can't fly. 2) It's not the same amount of PSI a home air compressor used for pneumatic tools and such provides - it's roughly 250 times that.
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,428
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 2,802
From: Annapolis MD
Have you read any of the information or watched the videos? 1) They are already drivable, so contiuing to doubt this is possible is a moot point. It's like saying airplanes can't fly. 2) It's not the same amount of PSI a home air compressor used for pneumatic tools and such provides - it's roughly 250 times that.
