Would You Drive An AIRPod?

Would you drive this vehicle?  What if you lived in an area where most vehicles were of a similar size?

Check this out -

AIRPod is the culmination of MDI studies on pollution and urban mobility.

This concept will be the first to leave the production line.

With small size, a tiny price, zero pollution, fun and futuristic design, AIRPod mark a turning point in the range of urban vehicles while renewing the idea of the automobile and transportation. You can drive with a joystick, it only costs one euro per 200 km and leaves no one indifferent in crept in traffic.

It is a real breath of fresh air in our cities and the prelude to travel without pollution. Its small size make it easy to park, keeping still a large internal volume. AIRPod help us to forget the price of petrol.

AIRPod is part of the MDI production licence of "less than 500kg vehicles", and will be manufactured following the original production concept proposed by MDI.

AIRPod
The standard version is designed for the transport of persons. It has four seats (3 adults and one child) and has space for luggage. It is dedicated to multiple uses as in the private and public sectors. Airports, train stations and municipalities also need a cheap, non-polluting car with high mobility.

This wehicle is changing our urban life in the city center in freeing ourselves of the prohibitive cost of petrol and offering us mobility never gained until today.

AIRPod Cargo
This carriage version with a single place has a load volume greater than one meter cube that makes deliveries easy in town. Designed for runners, messaging, and the artisans and communities, Cargo AIRPod brings Zero Pollution in institutions. The Post, factory handling and delivery are markets of choice for AIRPod Cargo.

AIRPod Baby
Two front seats and a chest of more than 500 liters, all for less than 1,80m long, it's the most extreme, a real challenge for car design. This model was created keeping in mind the most congested cities by traffic. It is a versatile which can also be used for deliveries, municipal services, roads and small logistics.

Technical Characteristics	AIRPod	AIRPod Cargo
Type	Urban carrier without driving licence
Number of Seats	3-4	1
Length (m)	2.07
Width (m)	1.60
Height (m)	1.74
Turning radius (m)	1.90
Weight à vide (kg)	220	210
Useful cargo (kg)	-	300
Cargo (m³)	-	1.10
Moteur	44P06 à chambre active
Cylindrée totale (cm³)	180 (chambre active + cylindre détente)
Puissance maxi (kW)	4 kW (5.45 cv) sous 18 bars
Couple maxi (Nm)	15
Châssis / Carrosserie	Sandwich composite (fibre de verre / mousse polyuréthane)
Train avant	Diabolo deux roues
Train arrière	Bras tirés
Pneumatiques	Avant : 10×4.00-5 Arrière :  100/90-16
Freins	Disques arrières
Direction	Par gestion différentielle de la vitesse des roues arrières
Récupération d’énergie	Au freinage par alternateurs contrôlés électroniquement
Réservoir	Enroulement filamentaire de carbone sur liner thermoplastique
Volume du réservoir (litres)	175
Pression de stockage (bar)	350
Contrôle de stabilité	Système assisté - module gyroscopique - correction de trajectoire
Rétro vision	Vidéo et écran de contrôle TFT
Sécurité active	Airbag extérieur à déclenchement volontaire
Contrôle de direction	Minimanche et électronique digitale
Electronique	Calculateur embarqué pour gestion de motorisation et direction
Vitesse maxi (km/h)	45 km/h sans permis – 70 km/h avec permis
Autonomie en cycle urbain (km)	220
Temps de recharge (minute)	1.5
Coût aux 100 km (€)	0.5

AIRPod is part of the MDI production licence of "less than 500kg", and is manufactured following the original production concept proposed by MDI. This information is not contractual and could change during development.

Just a little more info -

India's Tata Motors is working on a revolutionary new concept car that looks like a cross between a 2001 space pod and the Alvin deep sea explorer. But unlike those vehicles, this one runs on compressed air — a power source that could create a viable alternative to electric cars, in terms of its affordability and environmental impact. 

Tata bought the rights to sell MDI's creations in India five years ago, but the project's proven difficult to get popping. But in May, the motor giant announced that it had completed the "first phase" of the Airpod, successfully testing out the engines in two vehicles. The Airpod team presumably is now in Phase 2, polishing up on the hardware in advance of a commercial launch.

 So what does this auto of the future look like? Following the smartcar trend, it resembles something that stumbled out of Pixar's Cars. The mid-sized model fits three passengers, although one must face backward like he's being punished for something, and is streamlined almost to the point of becoming a sphere. Its tank can hold 175 liters of air, which a driver gets either at a specialized fueling station or by activating an onboard electric motor to suck it in. Its makers say that filling er' up will cost a paltry €1, and that a full tank of air can last for roughly 125 miles.

Can't Ignore India

     When you see a disaster like what is currently happening in India, you just can't ignore it.  This is a prime example of what is happening due to the lack of alternative energy uses.



     In India, 600 Million People Affected By One Of The World's Biggest Blackouts

      India's energy crisis cascaded over half the country Tuesday when three of its regional grids collapsed, leaving 620 million people without government-supplied electricity for several hours in, by far, the world's biggest blackout.

     Hundreds of trains stalled across the country and traffic lights went out, causing widespread traffic jams in New Delhi. Electric crematoria stopped operating, some with bodies half burnt, power officials said. Emergency workers rushed generators to coal mines to rescue miners trapped underground.

     The massive failure - a day after a similar, but smaller power failure - has raised serious concerns about India's outdated infrastructure and the government's inability to meet its huge appetite for energy as the country aspires to become a regional economic superpower.

     Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde blamed the new crisis on states taking more than their allotted share of electricity.

He said that everyone overdraws from the grid. Shinde told power officials that is any of the states that overdraw should be punished and that their power supply could be cut.  

The new power failure affected 620 million people across 20 of India's 28 states - about double the population of the United States. The blackout was unusual in its reach, stretching from the border with Myanmar in the northeast to the Pakistani border about 1,870 miles away.  India's entire power system is very old and lacks in any modern technology.  Residents of India are familiarity with frequent blackouts and eased the impact with the widespread use of backup generators for major businesses and key facilities such as hospitals and airports.      

Power started coming back on a long 4 hours later but there were no estimates on when the entire area would recover.

Now - In a country with much the same weather as part of the Southwest U.S.A., wouldn't you think the solar power would be the answer?   I will do some research to see what the alternative power situation is in India.