petdave
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Foititis
quote:
ORIGINAL: petdave
i'm not really sure of the science behind "compressed air cars"... it goes against all the laws of physics that i'm aware of. Kinda smells like... geez, it's kinda familiar, but i can't quite place it... Makes me think of spring, humid, pastoral meadows, extra-rare beef... oh, now i've got it- that's bull shit i smell! 
Which ones specifically?
Air powered engines are nothing new, we even use them in some forklifts, It stands to reason the technology could be refined into a workable car.
i didn't know that there were compressed-air forklifts, just CNG and propane... but still, a forklift is a very different proposition than a passenger car in terms of range and speed requirements. i don't question that you can power a vehicle by compressed air, only that you can make a viable for the real-world limitations of passenger cars.
Anyway, i guess the laws of physics reference was inappropriate, because i'm too long out of physics classes to put it in those terms, however... Storage. It took a while, but i finally found some actual numbers on the car... Modest enough range/top speed promises, but holy crap, 4350 PSI? Hard to believe the U.S. will allow that on the roadways, but okay, that makes it a bit more plausible, although something i sure as hell wouldn't want to be in a collision with... Off the top of my head, i didn't think that compressed air held nearly enough potential energy to do the amount of work they're promising, but i didn't realize expect that much pressure.
However, i can't find anything that addresses how they handle the descending curve of pressure as the tank drains (obviously it's metered at the high end, and runs off of far less than max pressure, but what's the minimum?) What about temperature changes? i wonder if it runs an alternator for accessories, or if the batteries need to be charged as well as the tank... Then the "fueling" equipment, i suspect, will be very expensive, and probably require a lot more maintenance than your typical gas pump, and generate a lot of waste heat at the site... And assuming their "up to 125 miles" range is under optimal conditions, i wonder what it is in stop-and-go traffic (obviously zero energy usage at idle, but without regenerative braking, it's going to take a hit from the increased energy needs under acceleration).
Basically, i see too much marketing, not enough science... which always sets off warning bells for me.
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