I've been hearing about such an engine for 20 years. In practice, using compressed air is almost exactly the same thing as using a big "spring". Energy in <=> Energy out Many times I've wondered if I had a mechanical spring to store the energy I use when coming to a stop - and used that wound up spring to get me going again - how much my mileage would be increased. I'm pretty sure at least 5mpg and maybe as much as 10mpg (city driving, of course). I believe this would easily be more efficient than "Hybrid Technology". -WaV
On Sat, Aug 9, 2008 at 5:08 AM, <qui...@clearwire.net> wrote: > http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/08/08/air.car/index.html full story > > You've heard of hybrids, electric cars and vehicles that can run on > vegetable oil. But of all the contenders in the quest to produce the > ultimate fuel-efficient car, this could be the first one to let you say, > "fill it up with air." > > Whether the engine uses just air or both air and fuel would depend on how > fast the car is going. It would run purely on compressed air at speeds less > than 35 mph, Vencat said. > > Since the car could only go a short distance when using just air, fuel is > needed to get the full range, he explained. > > "Above 35 mph, there is an external combustion system, which is basically a > heater that uses a little bit of gasoline or biofuel or ethanol or vegetable > oil that will heat the air," Vencat said. > > "Heating the air increases its volume, and by increasing its volume, it > increases [the car's] range. That's why with one gallon of gasoline or its > equivalent we are able to make over 100 mpg." >
