(Jeroen van Agt of Olino.org told me we could pose questions for you here)

Dear mr. Nègre,

I was wondering about the total efficiency of compressed air as a storage medium for energy. As we all know compressing air releases heat, which, if not used in a useful way, is lost to the environment. This could potentially make the entire chain inefficient. Can you tell us something about that? Does the cooling which occurs when the air expands during use pose any technical problems? Is, for instance, the engine insulated in any way? How is the passenger compartment of the Airpod heated? How is electricy generated in the Airpod for consumers such as lighting?

Also, has the the claim that the Airpod uses only 99Wh/km been independently verified? Is there any independent information available on this subject?

Although I’m not worried about it myself, I can see some people having doubts about the safety of compressed air tanks in mobile applications. I think any medium of concentrated energy storage presents its own risks, but I also think those risks are manageable. Can you say anything about that?

Kind regards,

Jeroen Haringman
http://www.solarwebsite.nl

Dear Mr. Nègre,

Thank you very much for answering our questions on this website, and thanks Jeroen for enabling us to ask them.

I would like to know if the Airpod Baby will be in production right away, and I would like to suggest a slightly more “romantic name”, like the “Airpod 2-some” or something of the sort. “Baby” rather sounds like it’s of a lesser quality. I personally believe that two-seaters, with room for a “couple” and a large sitting dog, or some luggage in the back, will remain and turn out to be more attractive to the average consumer than the regular airpod. Of course there’s the problem of steering, but if you can build the factories in all countries, they can adjust everything to their own system. Obviously, in Europe, this will only be an issue in the UK.

Will it, in fact, be able to do 80 km/h in all weather conditions, while keeping you warm òr cool enough inside? That will increase its appeal even more, because with just 70 km/h, you would be slowing traffic down too much, and you would become a hazard on the district roads. 80 would be exactly right.

Furthermore, what about a bi-version, where other kinds of fuel are needed to extend the range to over 600 km/h (?) How is this possible, and can a few bottles of salad oil do the trick?

Have you tried to find partners in the Netherlands already for building a factory here? Perhaps NedCar in Born (Limburg) is an option: They’re not getting the I-miev, obviousley, because that will become the Peugeot Ion, but they seem interested enough in building “cars” for the future. Many of their employées are about to get sacked, so I would really recommend talking to them. Maybe you can help eachother, one hand washes the other (?)

What is the current state of the noise reduction? Is it already near “acceptable” while sitting inside, even at 80 km/h? I think all of us here would love to be testpilots for the real thing, the 80 km/h GT or Baby, shortly before it goes into mass production (perhaps even here in the netherlands). I would just be judging it as a simple consumer, the other ones here will give you real usefull technical comments as well 🙂

My final questions: Could you please put some in- and outside pictures or even videos of the Baby as soon as a prototype is ready, on your website?

Thanks again for your time, on behalf of all of us I’m sure,

With kind regards,

Imme

First of all, thank to all of you for your interest in our works. You’ll find below answers to many of your questions. Sorry for the delay, and hopping that these answers will help you…
I was wondering about the total efficiency of compressed air as a storage medium for energy. As we all know compressing air releases heat, which, if not used in a useful way, is lost to the environment. This could potentially make the entire chain inefficient. Can you tell us something about that?
Today compressors that can be used for air station that allows the Airpod to be refill within 2 minutes have an efficiency higher than 60%. The efficiency of the MDI air engine vary between 43 and 60% depending on the version. But more than compare efficiencies of each element of the power train it is necessary to go up to the wheel and give a kWh/100km figure. For the Airpod that is a lot lighter than other cars with clean technologies, this figure (at the wheel) is similar to modern electric cars without constrains due to their technology. To conclude on the fact that compression has an energetic cost, it is interesting to note that a normal conventional engine is compressing a mixture each rev.

Does the cooling which occurs when the air expands during use pose any technical problems? Is, for instance, the engine insulated in any way?
Not anymore. MDI has worked a lot to avoid problems due to low temperature during the expansion. Today the air cools only inside the engine (and not before) giving no troubles in the functioning.

How is the passenger compartment of the Airpod heated?
Various ways are possible. As every electric cars with a petrol heater (but that will be the case only for dual energy Airpods where a heater increase the temperature of the air before entering the engine, increasing the range). On mono energy car a small compressor will heat the air for heating the compartment. As any electric car the heating in our vehicle has an energetically cost, but in our case the air conditioning is energetically free (using cold air from the exhaust).

How is electricy generated in the Airpod for consumers such as lighting?
By recovering electrical energy while breaking.

Also, has the claim that the Airpod uses only 99Wh/km been independently verified? Is there any independent information available on this subject?
These figures are deducted from tests on our bench.

Although I’m not worried about it myself, I can see some people having doubts about the safety of compressed air tanks in mobile applications. I think any medium of concentrated energy storage presents its own risks, but I also think those risks are manageable. Can you say anything about that?
The air tanks are certified up to 12000 cycle. If one makes the verification each 5 years, the tank is considerate as infinite life (which is a tremendous advantage on electric technology). Many test are done to certify the tank: crashes, gun shots, fire etc… These tanks used for mobile application are made with thermoplastic liner and carbon fibres. There is no fragmentation in case of an accident. Same kind of tanks are already used on CNG buses in our town of Nice…

How does the amount of pressure influence accelleration and top speed? In other words, if I’m halfway through my stored supply of air, will pressure and therefor accelleration and topspeed decrease accordingly?
The engine of the AIRPod is define to work with the same performances up to a limit of pressure of 20b. It’s only under this limite that the performances will decrease (meaning only on the very last kilometres of range).

Another issue is that of safety. Is anything known about the likelihood of the cylinder exploding when the vehicle is involved in an accident?
Please see the answer before…

I would like to know if the Airpod Baby will be in production right away, and I would like to suggest a slightly more “romantic name”, like the “Airpod 2-some” or something of the sort. “Baby” rather sounds like it’s of a lesser quality.
The production of the AIRPod call for the moment Baby, will not start as soon as Airpod45 and AIRPod GT will be launched. We estimate that a production can start 6 to 8 month after.

I personally believe that two-seaters, with room for a “couple” and a large sitting dog, or some luggage in the back, will remain and turn out to be more attractive to the average consumer than the regular airpod.
It is true for the private customer, less for fleet and car sharing.

Of course there’s the problem of steering, but if you can build the factories in all countries, they can adjust everything to their own system. Obviously, in Europe, this will only be an issue in the UK.
No trouble for that with the joystick in the middle.

Furthermore, what about a bi-version, where other kinds of fuel are needed to extend the range to over 600 km/h (?) How is this possible, and can a few bottles of salad oil do the trick?
The dual energy uses a burner that heat the air before entering the engine. This outside continuous combustion can use a large range of fuels. The autonomy is extended without producing NOx (temperature of combustion is lower than 900°C) and with no HC (the combustion is continuous).

Have you tried to find partners in the Netherlands already for building a factory here? Perhaps NedCar in Born (Limburg) is an option: They’re not getting the I-miev, obviousley, because that will become the Peugeot Ion, but they seem interested enough in building “cars” for the future. Many of their employées are about to get sacked, so I would really recommend talking to them. Maybe you can help eachother, one hand washes the other (?)
We are in contact with some investors in the Netherlands, but no agreement have been reached yet.

What is the current state of the noise reduction? Is it already near “acceptable” while sitting inside, even at 80 km/h? I think all of us here would love to be testpilots for the real thing, the 80 km/h GT or Baby, shortly before it goes into mass production (perhaps even here in the netherlands). I would just be judging it as a simple consumer, the other ones here will give you real usefull technical comments as well
Noise level are now under control… J

My final questions: Could you please put some in- and outside pictures or even videos of the Baby as soon as a prototype is ready, on your website?
That will be done…

A comparative study has been achieve in our office and will shortly be put online. It shows advantages (and disadvantages) of our technology respect to other clean technology. In this comparison all the vehicles presented are the ones for which our own computations verify the manufacturers’. The choice of vehicles used in that comparative study is really wide as it contains the MDI vehicles range (single and dual energy), all-electric vehicles, hybrids, and petrol or diesel-oil cars. As the available data for the currently under development vehicles are often insufficient, the choice was made of the ones of which the necessary characteristics for checking calculations are known.

With regards

Cyril NEGRE

Mr. Nègre,

Thank you very much for all your answers, I will be waiting for the Baby to arrive then, and of course for the first pictures of the in- and outside 🙂 You are probably now aiming for the big companies whith different kinds of leaseconstructions, mostly for transporting thins or people.

But once this airpod is made generally accesible to the large public, I’m sure it will be a great big hit as a “second car” for small distances in and around the city! Even more so than it will score as a lease-product for businesses, I think.

BTW what will be the width of the AIRPod Baby?

Dear Cyril
Thank You for answers . Your work is very important . I want to ask the most important question for all mdi fanatics 😉
When the sertification of l’airpod will be finished ?

Hello Mr Cyril Nègre,
Thks for your answers above. I like your work and exploration of these compressed air driven vehicules.
I have a crash-security question and suggestion for the Airpod.
As long as used indoor or on small ranges low speed outside like on airport grounds, railway quays or similar applications Airpod is fine and secure enough as running at speeds approx. 10 or 15 km/h.
What however when running at higher speeds, up to 70 km/hr, in the event of a front crash? The driver’s legs are just behind the windscreen (glass) i.e. w/o protection !
My suggestion: keep the 2/3 uper part of the windscreen opening as now or in a sliding fashion. For the bottom part adapt 2 ”doors” opening left-right, like at rear of the Cooper-combi,”doors’s honeycumb structure” made out of carbon-composite to be lightweight, but acting as a crash-box in case of front collision…
What do you think about this?
I would feel safer sitting at the wheel and driving at 70 km/h.
Please let me know at your earliest convenience.
A+ Salutations Guydegif(91)

“AIRPod mark a turning point” <– AIRPod MARKS a turning point

"This wehicle" <– This VEHICLE

"brings Zero Pollution in" <– 'zero pollution' shouldn't be capitalized as it is not a proper noun.

"It is a versatile which can also" <– A versatile what? 'versatile' is an adjective and requires a noun after it.