MDI's compressed air engine technology tested on Tata Motors vehicles

[Shankapotomus]

From Tata's website:

In January 2007, Tata Motors and Motor Development International (Luxembourg) signed a licence agreement that enables Tata Motors to produce and sell compressed air cars using MDI technology in India. The agreement covered two phases of activity encompassing the technology transfer and proof of the technical concept in the first phase, and in the second phase completing detailed development of the compressed air engine into specific vehicle and stationary applications.

more...

From AOL AutoBlog:

Tata Motors, the company responsible for the world's cheapest car (and the owner of Jaguar Land Rover, as an aside), is developing a car that runs on compressed air. Imagine that.

Tata owns the licence to develop a compressed air engine created by Motor Development International (MDI), a company formed in 1991 in Luxembourg.

The MDI engine has been in development for years, and...

more...

[immoderate]

1. I have never seen anything that supports their claims.

There are vehicles, but none goes more than a few miles. If they have added a compressor(?) it will burn fuel.

They have been "announcing" this car for more than 20 years.

--imm

[Shankapotomus]

2. The reason I posted this

was because, in the last year or so, MDI had a lot of investors bail on them because it was taking MDI too long to produce a product. And TaTa had to know MDI's investors were suing them. But this recent announcement that TaTa is still planning to producing the car seems almost like a vindication since, based on the past years' bad news about MDI and its investors, TaTa should be rethinking their commitment to producing an air car.

Why would TaTA confirm its commitment to a company being sued for fraud if they didn't have some confidence in the technology?

[immoderate]

3. I can't figure it...

I've seen calculations that show a little car can't store enough compressed air to move more than a couple of miles. This is the first I've heard of an on board compressor. It seems to defeat the whole purpose.

--imm

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Compressor for energy recapture braking ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_energy_recovery_system

[immoderate]

5. Add some more weight to the vehicle? Can only recover what you put in.

--imm