MDI Inc. and Zero Pollution Motors CityCAT
Motor Development International was founded by Guy Negre, the famous Formula One car designer, after he was inspired by the compressed air engine starting technology he encountered on the race tracks. He has cobbled together numerous small investors and runs MDI on a franchise model - for $10M, you too can have your own compressed air car factory. Zero Pollution Motors has teamed up with MDI Inc. to race the air car in the Automotive X Prize. Check out our new MDI CityCAT page, or read on for a less pretty presentation of the same information.UPDATED: On March 27th 2008 this page (and the PDF) was updated, removing references to "Air Car" and adding a little more information.
Short Description: 6-seat, compressed air car
Availability & Cost: Euro11,900
Availability & Cost: Euro11,900
Background and Details
- Stats are from the CityCAT - the AXP race car may be different
- Website claims 106 MPG, but actual MPGe is hard to determine - depends on compressor efficiency, etc.
- Guy Negre, famous for Formula One race cars, is the founder of MDI - Motor Development International
- Shiva Vencat operates Zero Pollution Motors, the US franchise holder for MDI technology. ZPM is the AXP team.
- Engine can also use gasoline - but no word on how efficient that operating mode would be
- The compressed air is stored at 4,500 PSI in reinforced carbon fiber tanks held below the chassis.
- Has been widely called the “Air Car”, but they prefer to avoid that name because it has been used for many other unrelated vehicles (even flying ones) - confusing at best
- See also the MDI/ZPM CAV, a 3-seat alternative class entry, Page 17
- References:Zero Pollution Motors MDI CityCAT Newsweek Article YouTube Video Wikipedia
Vehicle Stats
MPGe
|
106
|
Weight
|
1874 lbs
|
L x W x H (ft)
|
13.5 x 5.7 x 5.8
|
HP
|
75
|
0-60 MPH
|
? seconds
|
Top Speed
|
96 MPH
|
Charge Time
|
3 minutes at high pressure air station
4 hours with onboard compressor (plugged in) |
Range
|
60 miles on comp. air
|
Engine
|
6C, “40P01/6”, can use both compressed air and gasoline
|
Cd x Frontal Area
|
? x ? ft^2
|
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: MDI Inc. and Zero Pollution Motors CityCAT.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://xprizecars.com/cgi-bin/MT/mt-tb.cgi/15
1 Comments
Leave a comment
About X Prize Cars
Subscribe & Share
The X Prize Cars
Aptera Typ-1
Loremo LS
Valentin Tech Ingo
Commuter Cars Tango
Avion Car Company
Miles EV XS500
Cornell AXP Mule: PHEV Geo Metro
Hybrid Technologies Supercar
Physics Lake Lake Havasu Chevy Blazer EV
Electric RaceAbout
Loremo LS
Valentin Tech Ingo
Commuter Cars Tango
Avion Car Company
Miles EV XS500
Cornell AXP Mule: PHEV Geo Metro
Hybrid Technologies Supercar
Physics Lake Lake Havasu Chevy Blazer EV
Electric RaceAbout
Nice. Why not go on and liquify the air?
The compressor is going to produce some heat. It would be nice to recover and store that. A tank of supersaturated salt solution, maybe?
What is the operating pressure at the engine? If you reduce pressure, the air usually will be colder going into the engine. You might get some extra range with a heat exchanger to pick up heat from ambient air.
Free air conditioning, I assume?