irocpractice

Will it get better mileage with compressor air or.....politicians air?That is the question.The van is available for shrewing around.


http://www.caradvice.com.au/141944/t...debut-in-2012/

06RAM2500

Just a big bomb on wheels.

"two 340-litre carbon fibre gas tanks which are filled with air to 4350psi"

Colo_River_Ram

They would run non-stop in DC if they could harness all of that hot-air.

Shovelhead

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lw_fhNAIQc

This was a SMALL O2 cylinder that exploded due to the actions of a Darwin Candidate.

cincydiesel

Filling those tanks would be a huge concern for me.. Let alone driving around town with that much PSI If both of those tanks explode, its gonna be a real bad day for a bunch of people.


Side note, when I use to fill tanks at the dive shop I remember having to soak the tanks in water to prevent heat build up while filling. Whats gonna keep those tanks cool while being filled at the gas station?

Bark

Thats how stupid I was. At 17 I was filling tanks up but was only told the water bath was to protect me from a small explosion should a tank ever rupture. I noticed that the top of the tank always dried quick but never put 2+2 together.

1-2-3

On the second video, it seems that whoever was working on that one, tried to removed the valve on a full tank.

nkennedy

I wonder how they can fill the tanks in a short time, and not build up the heat.

Hvytrkmech

I strap a carbon fibre tank to my back with 4,500 psi in it every time I go to work. Bang it up in fires and smash it into stuff all the time and not a single failure.

We put them in a Bauer compressor with a heavy steel gate, close the gate and slam them full of air, once again not a single failure.

Shovelhead

How many times have you hit it with an Escalade doing 60 mph?

chaikwa

Not to mention heating it to 200 to 600 degrees on a regular basis.

Tim, you ever notice that the steel gates aren't really all that heavy? Ours is 1/4" I think. Seems like the shrapnel from a failure would go right thru 1/4".

They're no more dangerous that a pressurized propane tank is. While not under as much pressure and not carbon fiber, propane is WAY more dangerous as far as I'm concerned. One 20 pound LP tank, (like on a barbeque grill), has the explosive equivalent of 66 sticks of dynamite. I'd rather take my chances with the carbon fiber tank of air that will probably be enclosed in some sort of containment or at least a scatter shield.

12valve@heart

Maybe they could design the car so that the "fuel" tanks could be swapped out with standard scuba/air supply tanks. Carrying a couple extra tanks along to swap out might be pretty convenient, not to mention that you could take your car diving or use it as a rescue vehicle - just plumb a regulator line into the passenger compartment.

bobfbigman

What is so new about this, it is basically a steam engine but uses compressed air instead. You can run a steam engine on air too, its a neat concept but I would like to see the real world mileage to a tank of air. also for protection the tank could be placed where the pressure would not enter the cab in event of failure, basically letting the presure escape in the direction you want it to.

j_martin

Let's see,
Car is propelled by highly compressed air.
Air is compressed by big electric compressor
Electricity comes from power grid.
Grid gets electricity from coal fired power plant.

It's a car:
propelled by coal
designed by Rube Goldberg.

bobfbigman

wouldn't you love to come across someone using an old hand pump and you stop to help and ask them if they have a flat tire/I know, heres your sighn/ anyway they say no, just topping off the tank