k_nitin_r 8 Report post Posted October 17, 2013 The time this thread was created was when Tata Motors (the Indian folks who own Jaguar and Land Rover) mentioned about their trials with the Tata Nano being powered by compressed air instead of by an internal combustion engine. They never really went about commercializing it, probably because carrying a tank of compressed air means that you would have a dwindling power source. Sure, the pressure gauge would read at a few hundred psi but when the tank is half-empty, the car would struggle to carry to loads that it did when it was full. Think of a family being able to get to the market only to find on half-way back that they would have to toss out their shopping bags to be able to get home. (I'm sure what they decided to put into the car is nothing like this and they'd already have thought about it when they went to trials because of the marvels of mechanical engineering, but for a layman, this is one of the thoughts that comes to mind when thinking about a vehicle powered by compressed air). Recently, Tata Motors did announce the sale of the Tata Nano that would be powered by both petrol and compressed natural gas. By the way, for a car that small, guess where the compressed natural gas tank is - that's right, it's under the passenger seat. It reminds me of the old days when cars were engineered to have the fuel tank located away from the passenger cabin rather than right between the knees of the passengers. PS: The Suzuki Eeco has the engine located under the front passenger seat. Just a fun fact for people who have a fear of being around internal combustion engines or anything to do with fire :-P Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
