MDI Inc. and Zero Pollution Motors Compressed Air Vehicle
At the New York Auto Show, I interviewed Guy Negre and Shiva Vencat. Episode 3 of the X Prize Cars Podcast (MP3) is out and features this dynamic duo talking about their vehicle at the New York Auto Show. Guy Negre runs MDI, and Shiva Vencat is behind Zero Pollution Motors. They intend to enter a compressed air vehicle in both the mainstream and the alternative class - two different vehicles. My old page MDI & ZPM CityCAT features the 6-seat mainstream class, while this page is about the new 3-seat alternative class Compressed Air Vehicle (PDF). Read on for the same information presented via HTML.
Short Description: 3-seat compressed air vehicle
Availability & Cost: $6k, 2009
Availability & Cost: $6k, 2009
Background and Details
- Left Image: 3-seat alternative class compressed air vehicle
- Right Image: CityCAT mainstream 6-seat (see Page 6)
- 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 AXP team.
- They claim 106 MPGe, table shows calculated MPGe from the range/energy stats given on the website
- 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. New name is “Compressed Air Vehicle” (CAV)
- References: Zero Pollution Motors MDI CityCAT Newsweek YouTube Wikipedia GCC AutoblogGreen
Vehicle Stats
MPGe
|
94 MPGe comp. air
99 MPG gasoline |
Weight
|
1874 lbs
|
L x W x H (ft)
|
13.0 x 6.0 x 5.7
|
HP
|
75
|
0-60 MPH
|
? seconds
|
Top Speed
|
96 MPH
|
Storage
|
3200 ft^3 @ 4500 PSI
|
Charge Time
|
3 minutes at high pressure air station
4h with onboard compressor: 5.5kW generates 812 ft^3/h |
Range
|
60 miles on comp. air
848 miles on 8 gal. gas |
Engine
|
6C, “40P01/6”, can use both compressed air and gasoline. The comp. air powers two different power strokes (isothermic, polytropic)
|
Cd x Frontal Area
|
? x ? ft^2
|
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