In times when petrol prices are touching the sky and even the diesel prices have become unpredictable, Indian auto giant Tata Motors said that it will soon be on traducing air powered cars in the Indian market. The company assured that it has tested two cars that run on compressed air.
Now the company is setting up manufacturing units in the country to actually build the cars. In the year 2007, French design firm, Motor Development International and Tata Motors signed a licensing deal.
The compressed air engine is actually not a new idea. The fact is that the first models with the technology were introduced more than a century ago. They were used in the mining industry for decades before the electric motors became a common place.
Today the compressed air is used in all kinds of tools and the pneumatic impact wrenches in auto body shops. A compressed air engine works similar to the internal combustion version. The fuel forces the pistons to turn a crankshaft and power the car. The only difference is that the compressed air engines are moved by the air and not gasoline. The researchers in Sweden have experimented with single cylinder engines of such type.
