I. Introduction
The Airpod is an environmentally safe automobile that runs off of compressed air. Not only is it a combustion-free vehicle, but it purifies the air it takes in. It is priced in small faculties, which is easy to manage for the average person. The first Airpod was released in France, in the end of 2009. Guy Negre, the owner and creator of MDI enterprises, brought the idea of a compressed air car to life with the help of Tata Motors. The Airpod brings the concept of “environmentally safe” to an all new level.
II. Discovery:
The 6 foot long, 450 pound Airpod carries up to four people. It’s sleek and futuristic design, catches the eyes of just about anyone. It’s steered not by a steering wheel, but by joystick. Its shatter-proof air tanks hold up to 175 liters of air that can be filled in approximately 90 seconds. The tiny engine that is powered by these tanks is capable of 5.4 horse power. This car is not only an air compressor, but hybrid as well. If the car is running strictly by compressed air, then it can reach up to 40 mph, and a range of 65 miles on a one minute recharge. When using petroleum, it can reach up to 100 mph and 900 miles on one gallon! The Airpod range is almost twice as much as the leading electric car! No combustion takes place in the engine, so no pollution is present. Negre claims that the air from the exhaust pipe is cleaner than the air it takes in. In fact, there is an internal filter built in the car, so it purifies the air that it consumes. It’s almost as if it’s an air purifier, let alone a car. For now the Airpod is used for urban transportation, but in the near future it is expected to hit the streets of just about anywhere.
Figure 1 Figure 2
III. Biography:
Guy Negre is very well known in the world of mechanical engineering. He began
his career working in aeronautics. His early achievements consisted of a formula 1 race car 12 cylinder W engine, an air compressed engine, a piston stopping device, and the Active Chamber (an engine efficiency device). So far in his lifetime, he has designed over 100 different engines! Guy Negre then began aiming toward reducing the use of petroleum consumption, and began his air compressing career. In 1991, he created Motor Development International, or MDI enterprises.
MDI’s base is in the heart of Luxemburg, London. The company aims towards making non pollutant vehicles to promote and develop ecological energies. There are only 50 employees in the business, but with the help of Tata Motors, they are able to produce wonders. MDI worked on creating a working air compressed car for a mere decade, and released the first one in 1996 (of course, this was only the first generation). Now, MDI has multiple styles of air compressed cars such as the OneFlowAir, MiniFlowAir, CityFlowAir, and MultiFormAir.
Figure 3
IV. Impact on the world/humanity:
The Airpod is a very efficient way to “go green” for many reasons. First, it uses and purifies the air around us without the need of gasoline. Gasoline causes pollution, which is extremely bad for the environment. The no pollution policy at MDI motors makes sure that none of their vehicles come close to polluting our air. The generators in the vehicle actually cleanse the air that it takes in, leaving cleaner air in its tracks. Also, the cost of gasoline is expensive. The cost to fill up the Airpod is about half of what we pay for gas. Secondly, the car is much smaller than the average car you see driving around your town, unless you live in Germany or Sweden where the Airpod is already present. This means that less material is used in the making of the car. Lastly, the price of the Airpod is less than 10,000 dollars. Compared to our vehicles in the United States, that is extremely cheap. This could be the example of the perfect car for just about anyone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyvJgQrVAXY&feature=related
This is a video of the Airpod driving the streets of Amsterdam.
V. Journal Article Review
This article provided me with a ton of information on how the car helps the environment. This car is expected to be an energy conservation revolution. The cars have already started hitting the street of many European countries, and are going to become more and more popular around the whole globe. MDI has spent approximately two years building this car, and they have improved it greatly. If everyone owned an Airpod, pollution would be no longer and the world would be a safer, cleaner environment.
VI. Sources
Ev World (October 28, 2008). “Airpod: The Other Electric Car”.
Retrieved from http://www.evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=1561
Alex Benady (May 14, 2009). “On the road with the Airpod air-powered car”.
Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/14/air-powered-car-hybrid-france
Rebecca Harrison (October 27, 2002). “Compressed air car moves forward”.
Retrieved from http://www.rexresearch.com/negre/negre.htm
Sally Dominguez (April 30, 2010). “Three-wheelers burst into favour”.
Retrieved from http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/threewheelers-burst-into-favour-20100429-tu1r.html
Unknown (unknown) “The story of Negre and MDI”.
Retrieved from http://users.telenet.be/sarahgrimonprez/didier/aircars/html/Guy%20NegreENG.html
For article
Car Type review (October 10, 2009). “MDI Airpod: 2009”
Retrieved from
http://www.cartype.com/pages/3582/mdi_airpod__2009
For figures
Figure 1 is retrieved from
http://www.ideaconnection.com/new-inventions/mdi-air-powered-car-release-date-02601.html
Figure 2 is retrieved from
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.linternaute.com/auto/salons-mondial/photo/geneve-2009-les-photos-insolites-du-salon-de-geneve/image/airpod-390724.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.linternaute.com/auto/salons-mondial/photo/geneve-2009-les-photos-insolites-du-salon-de-geneve/l-airpod-la-voiture-du-futur.shtml&usg=__z_yLWam0kLgzCHFjrqO4Y_Ds1wk=&h=360&w=540&sz=118&hl=en&start=68&sig2=XUEy8Dtayl08XgDZVy8_rQ&zoom=1&tbnid=joduM_ubgVibdM:&tbnh=134&tbnw=187&ei=ysu3TLy3E4H98Abky9ToCQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dairpod%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1189%26bih%3D593%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=457&oei=tcu3TKz8MYKclgeA2JG0DA&esq=5&page=5&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:68&tx=85&ty=42
Figure 3 is retrieved from
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://users.telenet.be/sarahgrimonprez/didier/aircars/foto%27s/Guy%2520Negre%25202.jpg&imgrefurl=http://users.telenet.be/sarahgrimonprez/didier/aircars/html/Guy%2520NegreENG.html&usg=__zVeVOVBogrUsqOmdUFoSZ4PSTn0=&h=335&w=450&sz=25&hl=en&start=0&sig2=dnWJHMOPLflhfTyzpnBT4Q&zoom=1&tbnid=hM87ijGUhoMJUM:&tbnh=149&tbnw=211&ei=_su3TI3dB4G0lQfa9qS_DA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dguy%2Bnegre%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1189%26bih%3D593%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=346&oei=_su3TI3dB4G0lQfa9qS_DA&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0&tx=85&ty=120
No comments:
Post a Comment