Eolo Car

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Eolo is the first Compressed Air Car invented by Guy Nègre and built by MDI which has licensed the patent for the construction to Eolo International (In Italy to Eolo Italia). It was unveiled during the 2001 Bologna Motorshow car and bike fair. An attempt to put it into production collapsed in 2003.

1 How It Works
2 Facts
3 Specialities
4 Problems
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] How It Works

It utilizes air expansion as an energy source by releasing compressed air out of tanks with extreme cold internal temperature and high pressure, about 300 Bar. The resulting air expansion is used to move a piston or turbine attached to a transmission.

The Eolo car is loaded via electricity in 6 hours; The car needs the electricity to re-fill the air compressed tanks.

[edit] Facts

200 km (125 miles) with a charge^{[citation needed]}.
It actually has an exhaust tube from which only cold air (-20° Celsius) comes out.

[edit] Specialities

It is claimed to be zero-emissions vehicle. The only problem is the recharging, but if the energy is produced solely via renewable resources such as wind, geothermal power or solar power, the emission is zero. On the other hand most electricity world-wide is made by burning coal, oil, or natural gas, or from nuclear energy.^[1]

[edit] Problems

Production should have begun in 2003 in Broni (Italy), but for unspecified problems MDI company had not been able to build it or sell it in the Italian-European Market, or indeed anywhere else at all. The 90 employees who were supposed to begin production are currently under the "cassa integrazione" law (a special Italian law which provides, through state benefits, the payroll to the employees who are, for special reasons due to the employers, unable to perform their jobs).

Though the prototype was a complete success (the engine was even sold as a power generator with 0 emissions) the selling of this car is said to be artificially postponed or cancelled due to undeclared reasons.

There have been several attempts to interview and have a declaration from the Eolo Italia president, but up to now no one has been successful.