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| You are here: Home > Vehicle News & Reviews > News Articles > Compressed Air Car from Tata |
Dubbed as Minicat, Tata Motors is getting ready for a new car that runs on compressed air. This means that the Indian auto-maker may offer a “zero emission” passenger vehicle to the world after launching the world’s cheapest car. The car runs on compressed air that pushes the pistons instead of fuel combustion. The company indicated a range of 300 km or 186 miles between the two fill-ups which may cost around Rs. 80-90 in India. It will give a top speed of 65 mph.
Tata Motors is India’s leading car manufacturer that launched the world’s cheapest car last year. It is ready to roll out its first batch on the Indian street this year from its Pantnagar manufacturing unit in Uttarakhand. The car has already given the test drive in the hilly terrains of Himalayas in Chamboli district and has also passed ARAI tests. The company shall begin full production next year when it completes its new plant in Sanand in Gujarat.
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Both May and June 2009 have come and gone.
Above someone posting as "Tata Corp" said on January 7 2009 that " You should see the 1st Edition Minicat in Tata showrooms in May or June, at a cost of around 70,000 rupees." and "The TATA Minicat will use air compressed via wind turbines .. .... The air will be provided at cost to car owners, which means a full load (both air tanks) will cost 200-350 rupees. The air will be available at virtually all Indian service stations as of May this year." What happened? Where is the Tata Minicat? Where are the 300 bar air fill stations? charlie (September 19, 2009)
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We'll see in another couple months how accurate the postings by "Tata Motors" are. I believe them to be a hoax, particularly since Ravi Kant, Managing Director of Tata recently said that a compressed air version of the Nano is probably a long way off. "Developments are ongoing with MDI, but it remains a very long-term plan,"
http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2009/02/t... Charlie (February 22, 2009)
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"Lets hope this environment friendly and cost effective car is a success"
Well, this part may be nothing but a scam ; this system can't be "environment friendly" nor "cost effective" if its efficiency is lower than others electrics cars. And since compressed air is a very bad energy vector compared to hydrogen, liquid nitrogen, or lithium battery. Ryuujin (January 31, 2009)
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The advantages of tge CAT technology are obious. The main disadvantage is "the coffin on wheels effect" The car has to be very light (600 to 1200 lbs without occupants) How would you like to make contact with a SEMI or an ESCALADE? Many claims are exagerated. For the USA the best option is a 3 wheel vehicle for one occupant and 7 bags of groceries, with a maximun speed of 50 miles per hour(80 kmh) to keep out of interestate driving. Range mist be at least 60 miles. A safetty cage (motorcycle rated) on T chasis is needed. What do you think?
Laz LAZ (January 30, 2009)
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For a better understanding of the FlowAir system and associated technologies, please check out:
http://www.thefuture.net.nz http://www.ITMDI-energy.com These sites are very informative and explains the specifics behind the FlowAir dual-energy engine concept quite well. regards; gnomaedh http://flowair.blogspot.com gnomaedh (January 30, 2009)
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The latest I got is that this car would be out in the market by 2009 end in France and 2010-11 in India. Tata was planning to roll out this car from Singur along with Nano, but due to Singur loss, economic slowdown and pending R&D has forced Tata to delay roll out.
Lets hope this environment friendly and cost effective car is a success. subhabrata (January 12, 2009)
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There is no price set for the Tata air car.
There is no schedule set for the Tata air car. Tata has not committed to building this car and has said that the MDI air car technology needs a lot of work to become production worthy. This means that we are in the same condition as when MDI announced mass production in 2002. see http://tinyurl.com/zeropollutionmotors1 The only road test info available showed the MDI car running out of air after only 7.22km. Both before and after this test, MDI continued to claim a 200km or 300km range. It is very strange for Tata to be involved with such a company. Charlie (January 11, 2009)
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what is the prise of the tata air car?
sailen basu (January 10, 2009)
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What is the on road price of this car.Even though,they add price,nano is cheaper than used cars in india
bharat (January 08, 2009)
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The construction of wind turbines has only been scheduled for Phase 1 in 2009. In 2010, negotiations are currently in situ for most parks and public land in India to have a turbine erected. Smaller, domestic turbines will be avaialable for most householders across India during the roll-out of Phase 2: such land-owners that are eligible will be expected to give Tata Corp part-ownership of their premises in return for a free Minicat.
TATA CORP Tata Corp (January 08, 2009)
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The breeaking system compressed air is negligeable ; it can't fuel a car.
Moreover, there is no gain from heat loss, since a huge amount of heat is also produced during the compression, and since the cold produced during the decompression lower the efficiency of the motor. The compressed air system has its own weak points. And how many windmill would be needed to fuel 1 million cars ? Ryuujin (January 07, 2009)
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Tata Motors has made no press announcements about building windmills. Outfitting most service stations with 300 bar compressed air service by May is not likely.
The "Tata Motors" post appears to be a hoax. Whether or not main article posted by "Rishi" is a hoax is harder to determine, but it is not consistent with public statements by Tata Motors. Charlie (January 07, 2009)
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The TATA Minicat will use air compressed via wind turbines .. over 20,000 giant Wind Turbines are scheduled for construction in Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir later this year, with another 15,000 in Nepal. Together, these will provide the energy to compress air for the first 1/2 million Minicats. The air will be provided at cost to car owners, which means a full load (both air tanks) will cost 200-350 rupees. The air will be available at virtually all Indian service stations as of May this year. You should see the 1st Edition Minicat in Tata showrooms in May or June, at a cost of around 70,000 rupees.
TATA CORP Tata Corp (January 07, 2009)
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The Car can compress its own air using the breeaking system as well as its own momentum. Most of the fuel used in combustion engines is waited as heat, using compressed air will greatly reduce this loss as well.
Ricardo Gonzalez (January 07, 2009)
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Sound like a hoax ; you still need to compress the air you pour in the tank. So you'll need electricity. And in India, the electricity come from fuel and coal...
What's the interest of using fuel to compress air instead of using the fuel directly ?!? Ryuujin (January 07, 2009)
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The car will cost Rs.1,000,000 and will last for 5 years. So what you save on fuel you will lose on the capital. Still interested?
Ayesha (January 06, 2009)
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Guys, this car seems to be interesting on paper and is good option for ever raising fuel cost, but we have to wait for atleast 5 to 8 years to a get a road worthy car, as the practicality of this car is still a ?
karthik (January 06, 2009)
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Please let me know the price and delivery period?
PThomas John (January 06, 2009)
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what will price on road?
what is filling procedure of air,regular or special? pl. give feedback. vaijanath (January 06, 2009)
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to stay in the loop
