New hybrid

[JB400]

Peugot has announced that they are seriously planning on building a car that runs on compressed air as well as a regular gasoline engine.  Sounds like a winner to me.  No electric batteries to deal with and it can be easily adapted to existing platforms.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/peugeot-car-that-runs-on-air-hybrid_n_2535024.html?utm_hp_ref=business&amp

[Mike DC]

 
I've heard of that idea before.   They say it's a decent power storage method for a hybrid.  Although a full electric car would be trouble because of the tank size that would require.  Hybrids can get away with a much smaller wad of stored energy.   

[Troy]

I was checking this out the other day and, I have to say, I really like it. The reasons I like it are:
1. KISS principle - it's primarily hydraulics and electronics. Stuff that truck mechanics deal with all the time.
2. No heavy batteries made from expensive, toxic, foreign sourced materials.
3. Similar sized package as most other vehicles so no major redesign required (cheaper, easy adoption).
4. Easily retrofitted. The components are basically "add ons" to standard gasoline cars.

All of those last points are derivatives of the first. They didn't stray too far "out of the box" so they didn't need to design a brand new vehicle from the ground up. Components and technology are common and readily available which won't require major retraining of service/sale teams or customers. The weight doesn't seem too extreme so no "beefing up" of the vehicle required. All of these mean the cost should be somewhat reasonable. Add in the "zero emissions" part and it's pretty exciting to me.

As always, you only get the most benefit out of it if you live and drive in the city - which a large number of people do. If you routinely drive over 43 mph or in a hilly area you won't see nearly the benefit you're hoping for. I think the range is supposed to be around 50 miles without using the gas engine so that's about on par with the rest.

Troy

[Mytur Binsdirti]

The biggest problem I see is that it's a Peugot.

[hatersaurusrex]

I don't believe all this environmental horse crap.   The dinosaurs were supposedly killed by environmental factors, but they totally had Zero Emissions Vehicles back then:

[odcics2]

I don't believe all this environmental horse crap.   The dinosaurs were supposedly killed by environmental factors, but they totally had Zero Emissions Vehicles back then:

And they were around for millions and millions and millions of years...  Us?? A few thousand.     

[Mike DC]

 
I'm still tripping off the idea of a car going 50 miles on a single tank of compressed air.  Even with electric propulsion & regenerative braking that seems pretty far out there.   

[kokxville]

The biggest problem I see is that it's a Peugot.

[Homerr]

The biggest problem I see is that it's a Peugot.

Those '80's Peugeots and Renaults were crap.

In 2007 I leased a Peugeot 207 (diesel/manual, was brand new when we picked it up with 7km on the odo) for 2 months while in Europe.  Did just over 5,000 miles on it.  Great little car that I would put on par with a Golf. 

[PocketThunder]

If the price is near $10,000 like the Peugot 3 wheeler that car would work for me.  Only if they made on that wasnt butt ass ugly.  I would buy 69 Charger sheetmetal from AMD and re-skin it to make it cool.   

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/22/air-powered-car-airpod_n_799939.html

[Paul G]

The problem with alternative fuel vehicles is they have such limited range. If your daily drive or commute is short enough to justify an alternative fuel vehicle, meaning there short range is within your commuting distance, gasoline costs in a conventional car wont cost you very much anyway. People who have a long commute, who pay a lot for gas, cant get enough range from an alternative fuel vehicle to even consider it. That is why the Prius is so succesful. It does both.   

[kokxville]

The biggest problem I see is that it's a Peugot.

Those '80's Peugeots and Renaults were crap.

In 2007 I leased a Peugeot 207 (diesel/manual, was brand new when we picked it up with 7km on the odo) for 2 months while in Europe.  Did just over 5,000 miles on it.  Great little car that I would put on par with a Golf. 

No way you can equal a peugeot with a volkswagen. .
French cars are still crap,no matter if it's a peugeot,citroen or renault.
You may have a good experience with peugeot while you were in europe,but on the long term there's absolutely no way you can compare it with a volkswagen.Over here in Holland,you see dozen's of old volkswagens on the road,but all the french crap older than 10 years is exported to Afrika because of the expensive repairs they need.