I'm guessing these cars cannot be too heavy or they wouldn't move, therefore safety is a very big concern with these cars. At this point I would not consider it a far better solution but it looks promising if the amount of weight the propulsion could support were increased. Either that or a material innovation that could keep the cars at their current weight but increase their ability to withstand impact was achieved.
Oh yes!! i am going to hop on my soap box here.. I have been following the MDI air car for sometime now!! This concept is not only feasible but perfect for inner city driving.
Tyler, you bring up a great point and that has been a discussion among many about this concept. The bodies of the MDI air car are made of composite materials, fiber glass and polyester resin on polyurethane foam. The composite materials are lighter. The polyester resin / fiber glass combination have a capacity to absorb energy in case of shocks which is 2 times better than steel. Their chassis design is another thing to look at as well. But i am not going to go into that.
I could seriously talk about this all day!! But the only problem i have with this concept is that it is not ideal for rural areas, like here in blacksburg. There are 5 types of designs that MDI has come out with, "FlowAir" Designs. They all roughly max out at speeds at 110km/hr which is only 70mph. They do have some dual engines, which is a conventional engine that kicks in at higher speeds than 70mph. The concept is still "greener" than any conventional car. All i have to say is that i really hope more people can see this and actually realize that this is a great, almost perfect, future for the auto industry!! off my soap box now.. haha.. here is a link to the main site.. really check it out!! its AWESOME!! http://www.mdi.lu/english/index.php
I think in the article it mentioned something about the car or its parts being "glued" together, which is a limiting factor to the chance of it being brought to the United States. Do you happen to know anything about the vehicle's connection points? It seems like they skipped heavy duty methods to reduce the weight of the car. You mentioned the chassis design as well, can I find that and more structural information on their site?
Yes they do glue the parts together.. but before you go and think that is bad.. The unit is glued using epoxy adhesive, and bi-components coming from the aircraft industry used to assemble structures. So i believe that the structure will still be adequate when it comes to safety and strength. And they definitely do have more information on their site about anything you want to know about these cars. :) when you go to the site just click on the technology button on the left.. the chassis is there plus the body,stuff about the tanks and engine.. its pretty cool. have fun!
This technology is very impressive but is not much different than an electric car. It takes takes the electricity needed to run the compressor and converts it into potential energy with the compressed air in the tank. So both types of cars hold potential energy that they discharge into either a motor or a turbine.
But this car proposes a materials engineering challenge where all of the components between the tank and the engine must have significant tensile strengths to be able to withstand the pressure loads. In a regular car, only the insides of the pistons have to be designed to withstand very high pressures.
And I'm sure that the oil industry would not be too fond of these cars hitting American streets.
I'm guessing these cars cannot be too heavy or they wouldn't move, therefore safety is a very big concern with these cars. At this point I would not consider it a far better solution but it looks promising if the amount of weight the propulsion could support were increased. Either that or a material innovation that could keep the cars at their current weight but increase their ability to withstand impact was achieved.
ReplyDeleteOh yes!! i am going to hop on my soap box here.. I have been following the MDI air car for sometime now!! This concept is not only feasible but perfect for inner city driving.
ReplyDeleteTyler, you bring up a great point and that has been a discussion among many about this concept. The bodies of the MDI air car are made of composite materials, fiber glass and polyester resin on polyurethane foam. The composite materials are lighter. The polyester resin / fiber glass combination have a capacity to absorb energy in case of shocks which is 2 times better than steel. Their chassis design is another thing to look at as well. But i am not going to go into that.
I could seriously talk about this all day!! But the only problem i have with this concept is that it is not ideal for rural areas, like here in blacksburg. There are 5 types of designs that MDI has come out with, "FlowAir" Designs. They all roughly max out at speeds at 110km/hr which is only 70mph. They do have some dual engines, which is a conventional engine that kicks in at higher speeds than 70mph. The concept is still "greener" than any conventional car.
All i have to say is that i really hope more people can see this and actually realize that this is a great, almost perfect, future for the auto industry!!
off my soap box now.. haha.. here is a link to the main site.. really check it out!! its AWESOME!!
http://www.mdi.lu/english/index.php
I think in the article it mentioned something about the car or its parts being "glued" together, which is a limiting factor to the chance of it being brought to the United States. Do you happen to know anything about the vehicle's connection points? It seems like they skipped heavy duty methods to reduce the weight of the car. You mentioned the chassis design as well, can I find that and more structural information on their site?
DeleteYes they do glue the parts together.. but before you go and think that is bad.. The unit is glued using epoxy adhesive, and bi-components coming from the aircraft industry used to assemble structures. So i believe that the structure will still be adequate when it comes to safety and strength.
DeleteAnd they definitely do have more information on their site about anything you want to know about these cars. :) when you go to the site just click on the technology button on the left.. the chassis is there plus the body,stuff about the tanks and engine.. its pretty cool.
have fun!
This technology is very impressive but is not much different than an electric car. It takes takes the electricity needed to run the compressor and converts it into potential energy with the compressed air in the tank. So both types of cars hold potential energy that they discharge into either a motor or a turbine.
ReplyDeleteBut this car proposes a materials engineering challenge where all of the components between the tank and the engine must have significant tensile strengths to be able to withstand the pressure loads. In a regular car, only the insides of the pistons have to be designed to withstand very high pressures.
And I'm sure that the oil industry would not be too fond of these cars hitting American streets.