Air-Powered Car from Oz
30 April 2004
From a friend in Australia comes a report of a new type of engine powered by pressurized air.
Angelo di Pietros engine, which has been patented, uses compressed air that expands in a chamber, pushes a rotor in a circular motion and turns a wheel through a chain and sprocket.
The pulling power of the engine can be varied using a pressure valve, which means it uses less air to carry a light load. Enviro 1 uses three 18-litre diving tanks to give a range of around 10km before it needs to return to the filling station – and it takes just two minutes to refill.
This range would be more than enough for use in a factory or warehouse but di Pietro is working on ways to improve it – including a much larger and lighter carbon-fibre tank – and is considering using liquid oxygen, which is denser than regular compressed air.
Figures provided by di Pietro suggest the prototype vehicle costs about $4.50 to run for 10km. [Note: Angelo di Pietro corrects this citation in the comment below. The cost is $0.45. --Mike] His is not the only engine to run on pressurised air – at least two other types exist. But di Pietro claims his is 100 per cent more efficient than piston or vane-equipped air engines, which he says are much heavier and need more air.
Driving around with a tank of LO2? Yikes! What about LN2?
Posted by: Aaron Shakocius | 03 May 2004 at 08:46 AM
Heh. Well, maybe he's thinking about the X-Prize next...
Posted by: Mike | 03 May 2004 at 04:40 PM
Dear S.or M.
The green car website “ On the website you have written that it takes $4.50 of air to run the vehicle for 10km. This is incorrect it is 45 cents.
Kind regards.
Angelo Di Pietro
Posted by: Angelo Di Pietro | 17 May 2004 at 06:43 PM
Thank you! Best of luck with Enviro1!
Posted by: Mike | 18 May 2004 at 06:13 AM
hello,
can any one answer my question? if it is the inventor himself, it would be great...actually how many kilometers can an air engine run at a single refuel..and wht the capacity of the fuel tank?
Posted by: kesav | 17 July 2006 at 12:08 AM
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Posted by: Marian | 16 May 2007 at 10:13 AM
WHICH IS THE BEST OF THE AIR POWERED CARS ON THE MARKET TODAY? AND WHICH IS THE BEST VALUE??
Today's Air Powered Car will probably become next short junket auto with a 50 mph top speed and a 150 mile range, it works good for trips out to eat, shop'g, round trips for work, church, meetings ,etc.
the cost per mile running on compressed air has to be below one PENNY/mile ($00.01/mile), at most, and could be a tenth of that/mile ($00.001/mile).
As we begin to realize the economy of driving Air Powered Cars, their prices will begin to fall and their performance will steadily improve. I personally would love to find a good one that I could afford for my short trips and save our BIG car for our longer trips. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Leo
Posted by: Leo Wells | 14 January 2008 at 12:18 PM
I would love to hear more about this engine and when I will be able to purchase such a jewel.
Posted by: Paul | 29 June 2008 at 07:33 PM