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Affordable 2008 Cars: Watch Out Detroit and Tokyo - India Makes the Move           790  Views
 
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GM and Toyota are sure to raise huge obstacles to this one. While emissions cannot be the problem, safety factors will be questioned and full weight of regulatory delays will be brought to bear. So while India and Europe may get this car by end of 2008, we may  have to wait until Detroit finds a way to make a Hummer out of this technology, before we get to see a compressed air car in America!

The video above tells the story succintly. Notice how this technology had to wait until an Indian company stepped in to invest - no US, European or Japanese company wanted to step in and cannibalize their current technology.

If you don't want to watch the video, here is the Raw Story:

BBC News is reporting that a French company has developed a pollution-free car which runs on compressed air. India's Tata Motors has the car under production and it may be on sale in Europe and India by the end of the year.

The air car, also known as the Mini-CAT or City Cat, can be refueled in minutes from an air compressor at specially equipped gas stations and can go 200 km on a 1.5 euro fill-up -- roughly 125 miles for $3. The top speed will be almost 70 mph and the cost of the vehicle as low as $7000.

The car features a fibreglass body and a revolutionary electrical system and is completely computer-controlled. It is powered by the expansion of compressed air, using no combustion at all, and the exhaust is entirely clean and cool enough for use in the internal air conditioning system.

Tata Motors is known for its interest in innovation and has been selling compressed gas buses since 2000. It is currently working on producing the world's cheapest car, which will be almost 100% plastic and will sell in India for about $2500.

Tata is also expanding into the world market. It acquired Korea's Daweoo in 2004 and is now the top bidder to purchase the originally British Jaguar and Land Rover lines from the United States' troubled Ford Motor Company.
 
Posted on 1/14/2008 12:21:11 PM     © CarTalker
Toyota  Prius  Hybrid  GM  Ford  Tata  Nano  Compressed 
Air  CO2Emissions 
 
 
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Comments
That is extremely impressive. I wouldn't give Tata motors a lot of credit for being eco-friendly howevever as they did create the world's cheapest car, guaranteed to multiply pollution in Indian cities. But still, that's incredible if it works.
Report Abuse   Posted by:  theglassrat On 1/15/2008 5:43:08 am
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