RV Fuel Issues & Prices - Post 'Em Here!

You seemed to have misunderstood the concept. The one minute is to transfer the compressed air from one tank to another as I indicated. Compressing the air would be done on a slower basis for the home unit or service station unit. (I indicated an hour or so). The size and cost of the air compressor depends on how often you want to refill a vehicle. This compares very favorably to the hours required for fully recharging an EV. I think it is also safe to say that the cost of the air generation system would be cheaper than an EV battery charging system. This air hybrid is being developed by one of the largest and most technological auto companies in the world.

"he onboard tanks are filled up in one minutes from a compressed air tank either at home or a filling station."
This would have to be the mother of all air compressors and would likely cost the "gas" station plenty to install.
Even after watching the French "concept" air is one of the worst forms of stored energy. This is going to be a wait and see thing. If they do it great more green!

The onboard tanks are filled up in one minutes from a compressed air tank either at home or a filling station. The experience is kind of like getting gas now at a gas station. The same is true for CNG. The tanks weigh about 10% as much as a battery and are not made with rare earth dirty materials. Air rushes in real quickly as opposed to electricity which can take hours. If you have a home compressor, it might take an hour or so to fill up your home supply tank, but then only a minute to transfer it over. I believe it will go about like the GM Amp, about 25 to 40 miles. Remember you keep adding air pressure from slowing down and from the engine. This form of energy storage is much quicker than electricity. The onboard air compression uses the engine when it is not running on gas (or diesel)and I don't believe their is an actual air compressor. Watch the video as it has the best answer to some of those questions. NG, coal, and nuclear is truly domestic where as solar is less that one % of the total domestic and is made from foreign (China) equipment. When we were in Amish county, they used compressed air for all sorts of machinery in furniture factors and other facilities as a replacement for electricity. Even saw overhead ceiling fans run on compressed air instead of electricity.

LindsayRichards wrote:
Neat thing about the air is it fills up in a minute as opposed to a long charge on electricity.

The onboard compressor fills the air tank in one minute.... and how far does that go?

From an external source I could see quick fill and long range but it would appear the air/gas car really only runs on gasoline. Possibly an electric powered compressor could fill the air tank but what is the real range on the charge of air?

While air/gas appears to save significantly I still like the idea of the EV that runs on NG, nukes, solar or any other domestic energy source.

SRT wrote:
Gasoline prices continue to shoot up. $3.19 to $3.35 per gallon. In the last 4 weeks prices have shot up from $2.89. Guess we weren't paying enough. Diesel still remains around $3.90 to $4.09. Oil is at $96.09 this morning. It's tough to plan ahead except to plan for $4.00 a gallon and be happy if it is less.

Very same jump here too. Wondered if it was to the cold FEB forecast perhaps?

Gasoline prices continue to shoot up. $3.19 to $3.35 per gallon. In the last 4 weeks prices have shot up from $2.89. Guess we weren't paying enough. Diesel still remains around $3.90 to $4.09. Oil is at $96.09 this morning. It's tough to plan ahead except to plan for $4.00 a gallon and be happy if it is less.

Maybe air/electric would also work rather than air/gasoline as designed.

Air and electric are both methods to store energy for later release. You have to have a way to produce energy or you are tethered to a source. Neat thing about the air is it fills up in a minute as opposed to a long charge on electricity.

It is only 1,ooo GBP lower than a Prius. 117 mpge is only 10% better than EV.
Might work well, I hope it does.

Maybe air/electric would also work rather than air/gasoline as designed. Going to be lots of exciting new stuff in the future.

Hi Lindsay,

Air Car was in France long before it was in India. Thanks for the link.

No, the Air Car from India, was a tiny car that had a air tank that you filled before you left and it turned the wheels. The air hybrid (link below) is made by the large French auto company and is a true hybrid, but instead of heavy, expensive batteries to store energy, it starts off with a full tank of compressed air and then has a gas engine also. It runs in 3 modes controlled by a computer. air only, air and gasoline, and gasoline only. It uses brakes by using the energy to refill the compressed air tanks. It reduces cost by about 80% city and 50% highway. Basically like the Volt except cheaper, lighter, and more efficient. There is a lot of waste when converting to the battery and from the battery. Not here. Lots of private money behind it. There is a short video in the article below. Looks pretty good to me.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2266632/Car-runs-air-coming-soon-Peugeot-Citroen-unveil-new-117mpg-hybrid.html