According
to
Green Business, the Air Car
will arrive in the US by 2009 or 2010, courtesy of
Zero Pollution Motors. The
quirky alt-propulsion vehicle's anticipated $17,800 price tag includes
standard safety equipment like airbags and ABS, along with the
75-horsepower compressed-air six-cylinder that gives the car its name.
Brave envelope-pushers might even reach the Air Car's estimated 96 mph top
speed. Drivers who aren't interested in treating it like a
Mustang GT, however, should achieve fuel economy equivalent to 106 miles
per gallon and have an operating range of 848 miles. The projected CO2
emissions should be negligible (0.158 lbs/mile) when cruising at over 35
mph (the car uses small amounts of fossil fuel to get air in a heating
chamber up to temperature at those speeds). Below that, it's expected be
emissions-free, assuming the tech specs remain the same at the time the
car reaches production. Until those are set in stone, the related
performance and environmental numbers are subject to change. Related:
- Air Car will be released this year thanks to $30 million from Tata
- BBC News video: Air Car out "by end of year," in Europe, for 3,500 Euros
- Air Car's first manufacturing plant will be located in Melbourne, cars sold in Australia next year