NEW CAR $12,700. New Motor. I want one for my boat!

http://www.caradvice.com.au/141944/tata-motors-mini-cat-air-car-to-debut-in-2012/

Any imput? All posters welcome!

 

Sounds nice but....4300psi . Wouldnt want to get into a fender bender down the supermarket with that baby !! BURP

And you just know the sporty young guys are gonna tune it up in backyard garages and end up blasted into low earth orbit.

 

Don't want the car, but maybe a marinized version of the motor? I was considering a steam engine generator. This might be better! How long would it take to fill up the air tank to 4300 psi? Or would it be a big piston you cranked in, reducing volumn and increasing pressure. Tiniest bit of oil in there would detonate? Huh? Low earth orbit again!

 

Dont know...a dive tank is 3000 psi...I dont know volume and recharge time... longer than you think with the small boat style compressors. Perhaps google dive compressors.

Stored energy in the form of air sounds interesting. What is the volume of air they talk about in the car ?

 

I know very little about the car/motor yet. A friend named OldMotorNut emailed me the link. Captured my interest, so started a thread to get more information and pros/cons. More heads thinking the better.

 

It would be mighty handy to have a compressed air outboard motor with one hour.. putt putt... range.

Hook a 20 meter hose to the tender air tank , grab fins, mask, regulator then dive over and grab a lobster... then putt putt home.

 

Indeed it would. Handy for clearing a fouled line from the prop too. And a real attention getting deep throated tooter too. Sound like the Queen Mary!

 

Yes indeed...I like the idea..hope some clever fellow builds one.

By the way a dive tank inside a locker and a long hose rig is a very important small craft tool for prop clearing and general boat work. Even a small tank works.

 

680 liters between two carbon fiber tanks or a hair over 24 gallons.

Here is a link with a bit more info...and some cons to go with the pros.

http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/09/tata-motors-air-car-minicat/

and this one has a bit of video from CNN

http://planetsave.com/2011/12/17/the-minicat-the-car-of-the-future-or-a-lot-of-compressed-air/

 

thanks Steve.
Seems the first derogatory link a couple years old.
The second says CNN but plays like a commercial.
Not putting in an order today, but sounds REAL interesting!

 

I wonder how long it will be before someone takes a diesel engine,hooks a compressor up to it,and runs the motor and tanks off that and calls it the first series/parallel air hybrid boat.

With claims of great mpg blah blah blah

 

hmmm or a small double acting steam engine. I like the idea of carbon fiber tanks! hmmm...grrr grrrr grrrr...mental gears grinding

 

Nothing wrong with stored energy . Energy that would otherwise be wasted. The diesel power plant runs all day.... Why not harness its power for stored compressed air bow thrusters..or compressed air anchor winch ???

 

grrr grrrr grrrr

 

I was joking...