Last December, Green Car Advisor's Nick Kurczewski was able to snag a ride in MDI's AIRPod. Now, the lucky punk journalist has taken a turn behind the wheel. The short version of his review: this could be the car of the future and it feels like an amusement park ride, but it's no Millennium Falcon. Seriously.

As we know, the Air Car uses compressed air to power a small two-cylinder engine. The 180cc poweplant produces 5.4 horsepower, but MDI is working on a upgraded AIRPod GT will have 8 hp. Kurczewski says the AIRPod's joystick steering is modified from the original design, which would have seen the speed and deceleration controlled by the stick as well as direction. That complicated-sounding mess has been scrapped in favor of more traditional pedals + joystick.

Check out all the details - including why driving a bubble car with no openable windows in June is not a good idea and how MDI plans to bring dozens of AIRPods to airports and universities and other locations around the world - over at Inside Line. Thanks to throwback for the tip!

[Source: Inside Line]

A rear seat that faces backwards. Powered by compressed air. Name like the AirPOD and FlowAIR. A windshield that doubles as the door. There are a lot of hurdles that MDI's compressed air line of vehicles needs to jump before people will consider them "real" cars - or at least a solid alternative. At least one North American journalist was recently given the chance to see if riding in a prototype AirPOD is anything like a true car experience. The verdict: the vehicle is noisy, but maneuverable and takes some getting used to.

Granted, MDI representatives say that there is a lot of work to do on the AirPOD - sound insulation and a better suspension were named by Green Car Advisor - before the vehicle goes on sale. MDI (which stands for Motor Development International and is based in Luxembourg) is saying that the first production models will be ready in March or April for around $8,300. These will be fleet vehicles used at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris and Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. Consumer sales - whether in India with Tata Motors or in the US with an as-yet-unnamed partner - will have to wait.


[Source: Green Car Advisor]

Echoing rumors that we've been hearing all year is a news story from Kiplingers that we ran across on Yahoo Financial suggesting again that air-powered vehicles will be available in the U.S. within a few years time. Instead of larger cars, though, we could get the little three-wheeled, joystick-driven AirPod that's scheduled to hit New Zealand any time now. Zero Pollution Motors still has high hopes that it will bring cars powered by compressed air to the masses in the United States. In all actuality, the cars are really powered by whatever compresses the air that resides in the car's tank, but that's another matter entirely. ZPM envisions small plants in every U.S. state where consumers will be able to purchase one of an estimated 8,000 annual AirPods directly. This would eliminate the middle-man and combine the factories with the dealerships. Larger States would get multiple dealerships. The plants would license the technology and get a fully turn-key plant from MDI/Tata Motors for a reported $15 million. We'll believe it when we see it. Thanks for the tip, Torrent!

[Source: Kiplingers]

One of France's most prestigious auto magazines, L'Auto Journal, has published a very skeptical and critical report about Guy Nègre's MDI compressed air car, whether we call it the AirCar or FlowAir. The article (not available online) makes quite a number of arguments against MDI and the whole idea.

First of all, L'Auto Journal focuses on the technology. Yes, the engine is quite revolutionary in how it uses the power of air but how about storing the compressed air? In order to store the energy equivalent of 1 liter of gasoline, we need 150 liters of air. When compared to a small Hyundai I10, MDI's largest model, the OneFlow Air, doesn't perform that well: At 50 km/h (30 mph), the I10 only needs a single liter of fuel to drive for 34 km (22 miles) - that's 150 out of the available 190 liters in the canisters of the OneFlow Air - yet it weights double. The numbers don't add up and L'Auto Journal claims the OneFlow Air will barely get 100 km of range. And there's more... (after the jump)

[Source: L'Auto Journal]

Looking like just about every other three-wheeled, joystick-controlled, compressed air-driven car we've ever seen, the AIRPod by MDI will be available to lease in New Zealand soon. MDI has an agreement with IndraNet Technologies to market them in the land of the M?ori and, according to an article in the New Zealand Herald, they could be arriving on the island before the end of the year. If true, that would be the first market where the rolling alien marshmallow would appear. The MDI website says production is to begin in the Spring of 2009. Like many new ventures the vehicle has it critics and The Dog and Lemon Guide editor Clive Matthew-Wilson is unimpressed with the AIRPod's environmental claims. He rightly points out the the car isn't powered by air but by the energy that compresses the air. "It's a slightly more efficient way of wasting energy on inefficient trips. All you are doing is replacing traffic jams full of petrol-driven cars with traffic jams full of air-driven cars." He doesn't mention that the energy could be from renewable sources which mostly what is available in New Zealand. The AIR Pod is said to be capable of 43 Mph and has a range of around 137 miles and though it may run on air, don't call it an air car. H/T to Paul.

[Source: New Zealand Herald]

We've already been scolded this year not to call the air car the Air Car. The nomenclature is not getting any easier, but hopefully we've reached the last rebranding of the "Compressed Air Vehicle." An update to the MDI website tells us that the vehicle line up now has a "FlowAIR" theme. The models are now known as the OneFlowAIR (open top), MiniFlowAIR (a mini minivan) and CityFlowAIR (a truck-like vehicle with a bed). If you've been following the MDI story, you might recognize parts of these names from their previous incarnations as the OneCAT and MiniCAT.

An urban public transportation concept vehicle is now called the Multi FlowAIR and there is also the very odd looking AirPod, a concept that can be used to ferry people or goods in a little bubble. If outfitted for personal transportation, there are four seats - one in front for the driver, two adult seats looking backward and a seat for an infant somewhere, if I understand the French correctly.


[Source: MDI]

We heard that MDI, the creators of the AirCar - excuse us, the "Compressed Air Vehicle" - broke off all commercial relations with Miguel Celades, who had been carrying its commercial operations for a while. We tried multiple times to contact Mr. Celades for further explanations, but couldn't. So, we turned to MDI's new webpage and other sources for the information.

The good news is that MDI is still working on their vehicle and has taken some steps to get it on the road. The French environmental website Ecolo-Trader has unveiled a picture of the first MiniCAT model with regular car plates, which should mean it's road-worthy and has received all the legal requirements from the French Ministry of Industry. MDI's MiniCAT has an range of 80 km while running exclusively with compressed air and, thanks to a system which heats compressed air (using fuel), the range can be extended even further. According to the website, which refers to the Southern France newspaper, MDI is planning a second factory to increase output of the MiniCAT. The model will be on display for the Paris Motor Show and on sale in France at the beginning of 2009.

[Source: Ecolo-Trader]

Who would have thought that a concept as simple as compressed air could be a viable automotive technology? Sure, we all fill our tires with the stuff, but some automakers - MDI, for one - are considering compressed air as an energy carrier, like a battery. Whether a vehicle is engineered to run solely on air power or if the energy is stored as part of a hybrid system, the very air we breathe could provide propulsion for our vehicles.

What's Number 8?

The Automotive X Prize announcer used it. We've been using if forever. And, until recently, MDI and Zero Pollution Motors were still calling their vehicles the Air Car. Now, though, to avoid confusion as much as possible, the preferred term is "Compressed Air Vehicle" (don't look now, but the ZPM website still says Air Car). At the New York Auto Show this week, we finally had a chance to sit down with Guy Negre, the creator of the CAV, and his partner Shiva Vencat (Vencat also provided translation for most of Negre's answers, as I don't speak French) for a talk on what happens next in the compressed air vehicle world.

The CAV team was in New York as part of the Automotive X Prize announcement, and I'm going to have to say that MDI/ZPM seems to be one of the stronger potential entrants into the race. While the design of the vehicle in New York won't appeal to everyone, I think the renderings for the MiniCat (is that what it's called?) could result in a solid X Prize entry. Plus, considering that deals with Tata have already been signed and the air car (whoops) technology has been tested for quite some time, the vehicle won't be bowing out of the race early, I don't think. To hear what Vencat and Negre have to say, listen to the interview yourself.

While wandering around near the Automotive X-Prize booth, look what we stumbled onto: MDI's air car. The green plastic-y version that had just been uncovered - I think for a video team's camera - bears only slight resemblance to the rendering that appeared on the X-Prize screen. It looks even less like the previous version of the Air Car that we've seen before. We'll be sitting down with the people behind the Air Car later today to figure out just what it is we're looking at here.


And look at the cars still snug under the covers. Well, kind of snug. I'm pretty sure I see a CarverOne, don't I? We'll know more in a bit.