I’ve talked about the MDI air cars before and this is another iteration by the French company that is sure to gain a following. The MDI AirPod air car is a cute little 3-seater that runs on compressed air and is just begging to carry a few iPods inside as well.
The AirPod is a ZEV (zero emissions vehicle) that was displayed this past autumn and is now rolled out again at the 2009 Geneva Auto Show. The AirPod has a range of 137 miles on a 46-gallon tank and according to the manufacturer will be priced at around $7,500 when it rolls off the production line in a couple of years.
When most people think of zero emissions vehicles they generally think of hydrogen cars or battery electric vehicles since there are no emissions coming out the tailpipe. As with an electric vehicle, however, the energy from coal or gas fired power plants is converted into a kind of stored energy (in this case air) to be used at a later date.
A greener scenario for the AirPod however, would be to use renewable energy such as solar, wind, hydro or geothermal to create the electricity in the first place. The compressors would use this electricity to fill the AirPod with air and off you go!
It’s a cute little city car meaning that it will not achieve highway speeds, so no Southern California driving for you my little friend. This MDI AirPod is supposed to rollout in certain cities in Europe where high speeds are not an issue.
While the AirPod may just be full of hot air, sometimes this may be a very green way to go.
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While there might be a small niche market for these, air cars are really electric cars in a way in that electricity is used to create the compressed air that the car runs on.