The Green Optimistic

By mihai on July 13th, 2008

For those who don’t now, Nano is a car from the Indian company Tata Motors. This mini car would sell at $2500 and will have new green features that would please many eco-savvy people. As some latest news say, Tata will release an air-powered model, running a compressed air engine from MDI Enterprises.

Unlike the conventional engines of the same size, the Nano engine emits one-third of the carbon dioxide of such a petrol engine. Cold air, compressed in tanks up to 300 times the atmospheric pressure, is fed and heated into the cylinders of a compressed air piston engine. This car approaches the idea of a zero pollution vehicle, the only place where pollution is produced is moved from the car’s engine to the charging station, but the efficiency is much higher.

For just $3 worth of electricity, this amazing car would be able to travel up to 200km. In cooperation with Zero Pollution Motors, MDI is also set to introduce a compressed air vehicle in the Automotive X Prize competition. This is an attempt to demonstrate that electric vehicles and compressed air vehicles are a viable alternative to internal combustion.