I saw this idea for the zero emission air car and thought it sounded pretty cool except for the fact that it still requires energy to compress the air that push the pistons to provide drive. I was a little more skeptical when they start talking about how the engine that drives the car could also re-compress more air. My old college physics keep reminding that simply releasing the air will also release energy that can not simply be bottled again. Whenever someone talks about perpetual motion outside of perfect vacuums I get very weary.
Cool video none the less.
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One response to “Zero Emission Air Car”
I don’t think you understand what he meant to say. He’s saying that you can use regenerative braking to compress air as the car breaks. In other words, instead of braking with brakes, you break with the engine and while you do that, compressed air is restored in the tanks as energy. The advantage here compared to regenerative breaking on an hybrid electric car like the Prius is that the rate of regeneration can be much higher. The Prius regenerates energy very slowly in order to maintain a LONG battery life. Sharp recharges of the battery kills it much much faster. The air engine has no such limitation as the rate of air compression has no effect on the engine life or the storage tank life. Hell, you even get an added bonus : your breaks will last MUCH MCUH longer 🙂
Adi