I heard about a car transmission that included a compressed air capability to aid in getting the car moving initially, accelerating, etc., saving gas. This story was around about the same time that hybrid cars were first being developed. The story was the transmission would only add an additional …

There are a lot of ideas that sound wonderful in theory but never get past the concept stage because of unforeseen problems or limitations. Here are just two that I recall from the past: At one point–probably about 30 years ago–Nissan announced that they had developed a Freon-based propulsion sy…

VDC I read a while back that Porsche incorporated a flywheel into one of their race cars. Whether or not it was practical I can’t say. [image] Porsche 911 + Flywheel = Fuel-Efficient Speed Porsche's latest 911 race car uses an electric hybrid system with a flywheel for energy storage. …

This is my favorite recent ‘hybrid’ (depending on the horse breeds on the treadmill): [image]

Lest we think the OP complete crazy. Ford tried it. http://www.epa.gov/otaq/technology/420f04019.pdf and so did UPS. [image] EPA unveils hydraulic hybrid UPS delivery truck This week in Washington, the EPA pulled the wraps off of the hydraulic hybrid vehicle we reported it was developin…

You’re right, compressed air has been tested and touted for decades, lots in the last 10 years. Makes a lot more sense than horses!

@Texases - The only question I have is… What happens to the horse manure??? But I like it…Ingenious.

@VDCDriver - The flywheel technology for storing energy ran into a lot of problems. It’s being looked at again. The problem was the wheel had to get up to about 100k rpms in order for it to be usable. At that speed…it would sometimes break apart. And when this happened…it would send pieces of metal …

The thing to always remember when reading these new ideas is that they generally do not create energy, only store it. And the source from which it comes to them, the source from which they draw the energy they store, is the gasoline. Even the flywheel in only storing energy that the engine (gas) cre…

If you want a laugh, google ‘compressed air car’, LOTS of them, just none in production. I got a kick out of the 2008 article promising one would be on sale in the US by 2010: “which runs to 35mph entirely on air, or uses a trickle of petrol to heat and compress more air to reach higher speeds up …

Hybrid Cars powered by compressed air

General Discussion

mleich April 11, 2012, 5:05pm 3

I’m waiting for 2015 when Doc Brown returns from the future with his Mr. Fusion-powered DeLorean. Great Scott!

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Hybrid Cars powered by compressed air

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