[yesplease]

Frank, because no one ever made much money helping people save money. You might as well as why we don't have decent manufactured BEVs or velomobiles...

[JRP3]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', 'F')rank, because no one ever made much money helping people save money. You might as well as why we don't have decent manufactured BEVs or velomobiles...

[JRP3]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', '
')Since the EV version will probably cost more as well, either electricity is gonna have to get really expensive, or batteries really cheap, or both to a lesser extent, for a BEV to be cheaper than a compressed air/liquid fuel vehicle.

[threadbear]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Frank', 'I')f this is such a wonderful idea then why aren't there thousands of them running around? Is there a Youtube video of one? Is there a forum where we can ask questions to anyone who's ever used one? Just because someone's trying to develop an idea doesn't mean it's practical and efficient! After all we already know how to compress air, how to store it and how to make an air motor. Compressed air is EVERYWHERE! How could it be so hard?! I'm not from Missouri - but show me!

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JRP3', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', 'F')rank, because no one ever made much money helping people save money. You might as well as why we don't have decent manufactured BEVs or velomobiles...

[JRP3]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', 'B')ecause manufacturers make money off of things besides sales costs, such as repairs. In this case having a vehicle that's cheaper to operate, be it a BEV or air car, would result in less profit from repair work and sales to replace vehicles that become too expensive to repair.

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JRP3', 'T')hat has nothing to do with what Frank was talking about. He was pointing out industries' use of air power in manufacturing, where the most efficient process would save them money, and how after many years they have not been able to increase the efficiency of air power. This has nothing to do with after sale repairs or services.

[JRP3]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', 'F')rank never mentioned anything about industries' use of air power in manufacturing

[yesplease]

If you're concerned about hypothetical comparisons why are you even discussing these two? Neither a city car based on air storage or electrical storage has been released, so in any case it's hypothetical.

[Graeme]

Five-seat concept car runs on air

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')n engineer has promised that within a year he'll start selling a car that runs on compressed air, producing no emissions at all in town.

The OneCAT will be a five-seater with a glass fibre body, weighing just 350kg and could cost just over £2,500($5,000) It will be driven by compressed air stored in carbon-fibre tanks built into the chassis.

The tanks can be filled with air from a compressor in just three minutes - much quicker than a battery car.

Alternatively, it can be plugged into the mains for four hours and an on-board compressor will do the job.


Tata is the only big firm he'll license to sell the car - and they are limited to India. For the rest of the world he hopes to persuade hundreds of investors to set up their own factories, making the car from 80% locally-sourced materials.

He wants each local factory to sell its own cars to cut out the middle man and he aims for 1% of global sales - about 680,000 per year.

[JRP3]

There are hundreds of NEV's and converted ICE's out there that can provide real world EV data. Most ICE conversions are done for less than $10 grand leaving money left over for a replacement battery pack and still costing less than the projected $15 grand for the Aircar. These conversions are also done without the benefit of mass production pricing.
But yes, you are correct, this is pointless at this time.

[yesplease]

You can't reasonably compare a EV conversion since the cost of the glider is much less because it's used, and EV conversion parts, while not exactly cheap, are fairly common. It's reasonable to compare the per mile to operate two different new drivetrains in the same new glider, but using your method of comparison is just silly. According to that my diesel on WVO is cheaper than anything you've mentioned, so clearly an ICE is the cheapest of all.

If you want to talk about it seriously, please do so.

[JRP3]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', 'Y')ou can't reasonably compare a EV conversion since the cost of the glider is much less because it's used, and EV conversion parts, while not exactly cheap, are fairly common.

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JRP3', 'C')ommon? Try and order a Zilla 1K controller, it's a 6 month wait because the guy hand assembles them. Electric traction motors and controllers are not made on anywhere near the scale of automotive components, not even close.

[yesplease]

I've shown that w/o a substantial drop in battery costs, or increase in electricity prices, there's no way an EV will be cheaper to power per mile than a compressed air vehicle.

If you contend that an EV will cost so much less to make, or that batteries will cost less, show me a similar EV set to come out with half the price of the OneCAT, or where I can batteries from a distributor in bulk that'll last 800 cycles and cost half or a third of what's sold over the counter. I'd love that last one fer sure. Group buy all the way!

[JRP3]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', 'I')'ve shown that w/o a substantial drop in battery costs, or increase in electricity prices, there's no way an EV will be cheaper to power per mile than a compressed air vehicle.

[JRP3]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', '
')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JRP3', 'A')n 08 Aveo retails for $10,000. What do you think the glider version of that actually costs to make? Probably half that, and it's still a larger and nicer vehicle than the Aircar. GM could easily build an EV version for $10k but the limited range would be a hard sell for most of the public.

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JRP3', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', 'I')'ve shown that w/o a substantial drop in battery costs, or increase in electricity prices, there's no way an EV will be cheaper to power per mile than a compressed air vehicle.

[JRP3]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JRP3', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', 'I')'ve shown that w/o a substantial drop in battery costs, or increase in electricity prices, there's no way an EV will be cheaper to power per mile than a compressed air vehicle.

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JRP3', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JRP3', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', 'I')'ve shown that w/o a substantial drop in battery costs, or increase in electricity prices, there's no way an EV will be cheaper to power per mile than a compressed air vehicle.