Trends in Automotive Fuels

Robotic Vehicles

Recently, I had an opportunity to participate in the Techfest of Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. There I witnessed an event "Robocalypse". In this event, 2 robots had to compete with each other. These robots were made such that they don't consume any fossil fuel. They worked on compressed air, storage batteries and one even worked on battery charged by Solar Cell. The one in the picture worked on compressed air. These sources are completely pollution free.

Though the use of alternate power sources is common in miniature toy and hobby vehicles, such technologies are also being developed by leading automobile manufacturers.

Tata, an Indian company, is working on car known as the AirPod, which runs completely on compressed air. The AirPod is powered by an air motor driven by compressed air. This compressed air is stored in a tank under high pressure. The energy from expansion of compressed air is used to run the engine that drives the AirPod. An onboard generator, which is powered by the wheels of the car is also used to run a compressor that builds up the pressure of the compressed air. This is very useful of enhancing the range of the car. It has a claimed range of almost 200 km on a single charge. Since the medium of power is air, it is not only non polluting, but also non hazardous.