Air car for India....By TATA [Cost-30p/km]

A car that runs on air could soon be a reality for Indians.
Tata Motors has signed an agreement with Moteur Development International of France to develop a car that runs on compressed air, thus making it very economical to run and be almost totally pollution free.
Although there is no official word on when the car will be commercially manufactured for India, reports say that it will be sooner than later.
The car -- MiniCAT -- could cost around Rs 350,000 in India and would have a range of around 300 km between refuels. The cost of a refill would be about Rs 90.


MORE...

How does it work?

MDI explains that 90m3 of compressed air is stored in fibre tanks. The engine is powered by compressed air, stored in a carbon-fiber tank at 30 MPa (4500 psi). The tank is made of carbon-fiber in order to reduce its weight. The engine has injection similar to normal engines, but uses special crankshafts and pistons, which remain at top dead center for about 70 degrees of the crankshaft's cycle; this allows more power to be developed in the engine.
The expansion of this air pushes the pistons and creates movement. The atmospheric temperature is used to re-heat the engine and increase the road coverage. The air conditioning system makes use of the expelled cold air. Due to the absence of combustion and the fact there is no pollution, the oil change is only necessary every 50 000 km.

The car
The end product is a light weigh vehicle that can reach speeds up to 220 kmph.
MDI's vehicle's have fibreglass bodies which makes them light, silent urban car. The car's body is tubular, light weight, and is held together using aerospace technology.
The vehicles do not have normal speed gauges. Instead, they will have a small computer screen that shows the speed and engine revolutions. The system allows for infinite possibilities such as GSM telephone systems, GPS satellite tracking systems, programs for delivery people, emergency systems, internet connections, voice recognitions, map presentation, traffic information, etc.
The seatbelt system is different from what we know. One part of the belt is anchored to the floor of the car, like traditional cars. The other part of the belt, in stead of being attached to the side of the car, is also anchored to the floor of the vehicle. This helps to secure the bodies of the driver and passengers in the case of a collision.
The vehicle's electric system is also revolutionary. MDI has bought a patent that is bound to reduce the important of electrical systems in all cars. The trick consists in using a small radio signal. The system makes the car 20 kilos lighter and considerably quieter.
There are no keys - just an access card that can be read by the car from your pocket.
In the single energy mode MDI cars consume around Rs 45 every 100 km.
When there is no combustion, there is no pollution. The vehicle's driving range is close to twice that of the most advanced electric cars (from 200 to 300 km or 8 hours of circulation).
The recharging of the car will be done at gas stations, once the market is developed. To fill the tanks it will take about to 2 to 3 minutes at a price of Rs 90. After refilling the car will be ready to driver 200 kms.
The car also has a small compressor that can be connected to an electrical network (220V or 380V) and will recharged the tanks completely in 3 or 4 hours.
Because the engine does not burn any fuel the car's oil (a litre of vegetable) only needs to be changed every 50,000 km.
The temperature of the clean air expulsed form the exhaust pipe is between 0 and 15 degrees below zero and can be subsequently channelled and used for air conditioning in the interior of the car.
MiniCAT.
The smallest and most innovative: three seats, minimal dimensions with the boot of a saloon: a great challenge for such a small car which runs on compressed air. The MiniCAT is the city car of the future.
Specifications:
Airbag, air conditioning, ABS, 3 seats, 1.5 m3.
Dimensions: 2.65m, 1.62m, 1.64m
Weight: 750 kg
Maximum speed: 110 kmh
Mileage: 200 - 300 km
Maximum load: 270 Kg
Recharging time: 4 hours (Mains connector)
Recarge: 3 minutes (Air station)
CityCAT
A spacious car with seats which can face different directions. The vehicle´s design is based on the needs of a typical family.
Characteristics:
Airbag, air conditioning, 6 seats.
Dimensions: 3.84m, 1.72m, 1.75m
Weight: 750 kg
Maximum speed: 110 kmh
Mileage: 200 - 300 km
Max load: 500 Kg
Recharge time: 4 hours (Mains connector)
Recharge time: 3 minutes (Air station)
The MDI Group
The MDI Group is headed by Guy Negre, a former Formula One engineer. MDI is a small, family-controlled company, founded in Luxembourg but now located at Carros, near Nice (southern France) where Guy and Cyril Negre, together with their technical team, have developed a new engine technology with the purpose of economising energy and respect severe ecological requirements -- at competitive costs.

Air car ready for production.....Get ready

[Very handsome] ..Zero pollution!!!!

The world's first commercial compressed air-powered vehicle is rolling towards the production line. The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre, will be built by India's largest automaker, Tata Motors.
The Air Car uses compressed air to push its engine's pistons. It is anticipated that approximately 6000 Air Cars will be cruising the streets of India by 2008. If the manufacturers have no surprises up their exhaust pipes the car will be practical and reasonably priced. The CityCat model will clock out at 68 mph with a driving range of 125 miles.
Refueling is simple and will only take a few minutes. That is, if you live nearby a gas station with custom air compressor units. The cost of a fill up is approximately $2.00. If a driver doesn't have access to a compressor station, they will be able to plug into the electrical grid and use the car's built-in compressor to refill the tank in about 4 hours.
The compressed air technology is basically just a way of storing electrical energy without the need for costly, heavy, and occasionally toxic batteries. So, in a sense, this is an electric car. It just doesn't have an electric motor.
But don't let anyone tell you this is an "emissions free" vehicle. Sure, the only thing coming out of the tailpipe is air. But, chances are, fossil fuels were burned to create the electricity. In India, that mostly means coal. But the carbon emissions per mile of these things still far outdoes any gasoline car on the market.
Unfortunately, the streets of North America may never see the Air Car, though; it's light-weight, glued-together fiberglass construction might not do so well in our crash tests. However, that does not mean the Air car is confined to the sub-continent. Nègre has signed deals to bring its design to 12 more countries, including Germany, Israel and South Africa.
And this isn't the last we'll hear of the technology. The folks making the Air Car are already working on a hybrid version that would use an on-board, gasoline-powered compressor to refill the air tanks when they run low. Negre says that technology could easily squeeze a cross country trip out of one tank of gasoline.

World's strongest magnet

It will be the world's strongest magnet for neutron experiments, eclipsing the 15-tesla system now in use.

The new, high-field magnet, which is based on the magnet lab's Series-Connected Hybrid concept, will be housed at the Berlin Neutron Scattering Center. The magnet will produce a magnetic field between 25 tesla and 30 tesla - more than half a million times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field, and will be finished in 2011.

The lab's Series-Connected Hybrid combines copper-coil "resistive" magnet technology in the magnet's interior with a superconducting magnet, cooled with liquid helium, on the
exterior. The copper-coil insert is powered by an electrical current, while the superconducting outsert conducts electricity without resistance as long as it is kept colder than 450 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (-267.7 C) which is pretty close to absolute zero (-273.15 C or -460 F).

By combining the power supplies of these two technologies, engineers can produce extremely high magnetic fields using just one-third of the power required by traditional magnets. The version that magnet lab engineers will build for HMI is different in that its bore, or experimental space, will be conical to allow neutrons to be scattered through large angles. It will also be horizontal, as opposed to the traditional vertical bore of most high-field magnets. These modifications make the magnet ideal for neutron scattering experiments, which are among the best methods for probing atoms to better understand the structure of materials. With this new magnet, scientists will be able to carry out experiments that aren't currently possible. One of the greatest challenges in condensed matter physics is to develop a comprehensive theory describing high-temperature superconductors. The combination of neutrons and high magnetic fields will allow scientists to study the normal state of high-temperature superconductors in the low-temperature limit. In addition, it will be possible to probe hydrogen structure in both biological and hydrogen-storage materials. "Part of the challenge in science is figuring out how to maximize resources," said Mark Bird, interim director of the Magnet Science & Technology division. "We can't always afford to bring the tools and techniques to the magnets; sometimes we have to bring the magnets to the tools to advance the science." The Hahn-Meitner Institute itself will thus become a magnet, with this major piece of equipment, pulling in researchers from around the world to Berlin.