Forget Electric, use air

[flecc]

Compressed air as a home energy storage recharging system might work though, especially if powered by a wind turbine or solar array. It wouldn't matter if it took a several hours to build pressure in the home storage tank, at least not for a short journey, commuting, type vehicle. At a guess, a compressed air plant capable of storing about the equivalent of 500W/h to 1000W/h should be enough for commuter use.

Jeremy

Just the sort of thing I have in mind Jeremy. Although I mostly cycle in this area, I do the same sort of journey that large numbers of people do in their cars, locally between 3 and 10 miles round trip. This sort of widespread usage is easily catered for by a small combined solar/wind installation, especially if braking pressure regeneration was used.
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[coops]

Hmmmmm.... airbikes? Has a nice sound to it, methinks .

Any idea what sort of size/weight a 500-1000Wh canister would be, anyone? Also how much weight would an air system add to a bike in total & how it compares weightwise to electric? There was allegedly a spoof about compressed air being stored in the bike tubes... .

Stuart.

 

[Ian]

Some very rough calculations based on an expansion ratio of 1:20 in the engine suggest that at 4000 psi something like 50Wh per litre can be stored.

Standard European aluminium diving cylinders are apparently 10 litres and rated at 300 bar so would perhaps be equivalent to a typical battery. I'm not sure how much they weigh though as they weigh nothing in their natural habitat.

Not sure about "regeneration" though, a complex 3 stage compressor is needed to reach those kind of pressures

Of course an air powered bike could not by definition come within the scope of the electrically assisted pedal cycle regulations so could not legally be used, but then again you could truthfully state "its ok officer, it's only running on thin air"

 

[giguana]

if they are already making an engine that weighs 11 kg and that can pull 1500kg, then a 2kg bike motor should be able to shift 300kg! that could go up any hill.

say that the tank can release 10kW momentarily, it should be easy to make a 100% safe canister that hold 3000psi as long as it has a good containment chamber around the tank...apparently the modern canisters are carbon fibre so they split rather than become shrapnel, a car has the advantage of weight to hold down the power of basically a 10kW thrust...

with a bit of technology, they can design weak points on the tank so that if the structure fails at all, it will split on several sides at once, and the energy going out in different directions will neutralise itself. a containment chamber that diffuses the air in all directions would be pretty safe at neutralising the explosion.

definitely a motorbike can hold this level of energy effectively, but getting it safely into a 10 kg package for a bike would be a lot more difficult.

here is the video again that the guy found-the motor in the second half is amazing! 6kg!
YouTube - The Air Car

 

[fishingpaul]

i notice on u tube they quote a starting price of $15000,for the aircar(i think this is more likely).

 

[flecc]

Not sure about "regeneration" though, a complex 3 stage compressor is needed to reach those kind of pressures

The French car has it's own onboard compressor that can refill the tanks in about four hours, so that could be suitably geared for braking regeneration without further development or additional cost. It wouldn't matter if the efficiency is low as long as some recovery results to maximise range.
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