Compressed air cars coming to NZ

Relevant offers

Motoring

Red Edition a special Lexus Mazda's BT-50 is a beaut ute Blue skies smiling at Mazda 3 Police U-turn on speeding tolerance Living with Mini's tiny new model Son smashes dad's loaned classic car into sea After 50 years Cubans can now buy new cars Olympic Minis to celebrate 2012 Games Fiat spins SUV off the 500 Around the track in M-badged BMWs

Buzzing about in a compressed air-powered car will be an option for environmentally conscious Kiwis later this year.

The revolutionary new vehicle powered by compressed air can be driven at a speed of up to 70kmh, travel 100km for $2 and will save energy and help the environment, the New Zealand Herald reported today.

The small Airpod was likely to be imported into New Zealand by the end of the year by New Zealand company IndraNet Technologies from its European manufacturer, MDI.

"The Airpod is great fun. There is no steering wheel and you run it with a joy stick," said IndraNet managing director Dr Louis Arnoux, who was in France for the vehicle's unveiling yesterday.

The Airpod has a very small compressed air-powered engine on each of the rear wheels and is steered by controlling the flow of air from each engine.

However, the editor of the New Zealand car-buying reference manual The Dog and Lemon Guide, Clive Matthew-Wilson, said it was important to remember that the Airpod was ultimately not powered by air, but by whatever form of energy was used to compress the air.

"It's a slightly more efficient way of wasting energy on inefficient trips.

He also doubted the car's fuel economy, saying one of the reasons the cars were so efficient was because they were small and light.

- NZPA