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Geek Culture / A car that runs on... Air?

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Agent Dink
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 04:30
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http://weeksmd.com/?p=862

Yes, if this article is to be believed ( I haven't researched it, I was just e-mailed a link ) They have developed a car that runs on air and can fill up it's entire air tank for a mere $2 USD. It's no speed demon, they say it only gets to 68mph, but I'm sure eventually that can be sped up a bit, no?

But onto the complaining. This article says nothing about how much noise it will make. If it's anything like an air compressor our roads will be noisier than ever. I also can't understand what the trend is with these eco-friendly cars, but WHY oh WHY do they have to look like a friggin' children's toy! Seriously, they might actually catch on if they were at all attractive or useful looking. I just can't see our world driving around in these Dr.Seuss mobiles... I know I'd be embarrassed.

MISoft Studios - Silver-Dawn

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SunnyKatt
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 04:40 Edited at: 9th Jul 2008 04:41
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Yeah, shape it like a Ferrari! woo... looks cool though, where does the 2$ come from?

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Agent Dink
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 04:54
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Quote: "MDI says it should cost only around $2 to fill the car up with 340 liters of air!"

from the article ^

MISoft Studios - Silver-Dawn

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Satchmo
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 04:59
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Chuck Norris's car runs on the fears of little children.

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Darth Vader
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 05:05 Edited at: 9th Jul 2008 05:05
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It's probably like that for design purposes. Hell I don't know but yes I would like it to look like a Ferrari!


EDIT: I might be the dumbest person hear but, who is Chuck Norris?

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Osiris
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 05:06
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Well, I doubt it will be very loud. I saw this on beyond tomorrow a while back. It's also very safe as well because the air tanks are made of carbon fiber so if you get into an impact the tank will just rupture down the side and not explode.

RIP Max-Tuesday, November 2 2007
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Jrock
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 05:24
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I want one.

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We are the marines. The ones who hit the beaches of innovation before anyone else.
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Peter H
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 07:42
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Quote: "who is Chuck Norris?"

Chuck Norris is a man of few words. Chuck Norris is not a man of few roundhouse kicks to the face.

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El Goorf
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 07:56
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to be fair, i dont think it's *that* ugly of a car, there have been far worse on the market. Ok, so it may actually go a lil faster than 68mph if they actually heard of aerodynamics, but still, i wouldnt be upset if someone bought one for me, i'd just sell it and use the cash

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Zaibatsu
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 08:33
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My god, that thing looks like an Isetta, and I mean that in the worst possible way...



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Osiris
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 08:53
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The one I saw looked a lot better than that

RIP Max-Tuesday, November 2 2007
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Dazzag
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 09:19
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Rats, expect the price of air to soar through the roof then. And I needed it for other things too...

Seriously though, remember when those guys in Scotland started using chip pan oil or somesuch to power petrol engined cars? Was like stupidely cheaper than petrol until the government put the price of the oil up massively and it really wasn't worth the time and effort anymore to convert for use with a car.

Cheers

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ionstream
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 10:53
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Okay so this runs on compressed air, so what to do the machines that compress the air run on?

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SunnyKatt
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 13:16
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Quote: "from the article ^"


I meant, how do you pay it? Doesn't it just get the air out of the air, when does the owner of all air (chuck norris) go "pay up!".

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 13:24
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Goodness that thing is ugly! Shoot the designer, maybe in the future a more efficient version may catch on, I mean cheap fuel and eco friendly, now all it needs to be is faster and prettier then it would be worth buying.

"Experience never provides its judgments with true or strict universality; but only (through induction) with assumed and comparative universality." - Immanuel Kant
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Veron
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 15:07
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Great idea, hopeless design. The $2 probably comes from the cost to run the place, without that money the place wouldn't make a profit.


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Scraggle
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 15:11
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How about a car that runs on wine?
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/prince-charles-car-runs-on-wine/20080701161009990002



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hyrichter
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 16:49
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I'd really like to actually see it in action before making any judgments.

Compressed air can do some amazing stuff, but my understanding is that it's quite inefficient and expensive to produce. For example, it takes a 5hp compressor to keep up with a little 1/4hp air sander. But air powered tools sure are much more fun to run than electric. You can't say that compressed air is a renewable resource because you've got to have something to run your air compressor. Someone on a woodworking forum said that you can expect to pay 10 to 1 for good quality compressed air as opposed to just using straight electricity for your tools.

Based on the noise of most air powered tools (have you ever heard an air sander, drill, etc?), I would be a little suspicious of the noise factor as well. Listen to the first part of this video if you're unfamiliar with the sound of air tools:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCQezxO7Myk

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Zaibatsu
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 18:56
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Quote: "The one I saw looked a lot better than that"


That's a picture of an Isetta, a post-WW2 minicar.

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Deathead
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 19:16
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What I don't understand is that air is free. It surrounds us. So for a car to be powered by air, then what if they arrest people for stealing "air", that would be funny. You see someone breath and next minute he is arrested for stealing fuel.


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MSon
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 19:46 Edited at: 9th Jul 2008 19:47
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Ho, no no no, THIS is the most pethetic looking electric car, you would look a bit of a twat turning up to a meeting or interview in this.

Everyone Be Cool, You, Be Cool.
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Agent Dink
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 20:05
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Rofl... I hate this trend in green cars. I think we're all doomed to live in a Dr.Seuss looking world.

MISoft Studios - Silver-Dawn

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Gil Galvanti
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 20:37
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Quote: "Okay so this runs on compressed air, so what to do the machines that compress the air run on?"

Electricity.


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the_winch
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 21:07
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Quote: "Compressed air can do some amazing stuff, but my understanding is that it's quite inefficient and expensive to produce."


Someone once told me if a factory uses compressed air it will typically be the least efficiently produced raw material used by that factory.

I guess the low energy density of compressed air would also be a problem. You either need massive tanks or a really light weight car.

By way of demonstration, he emitted a batlike squeak that was indeed bothersome.
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Benjamin
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 21:08
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I'll have this instead.

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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 21:15
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I'll have this instead.


I fail at life. No, really.
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Benji
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 21:40 Edited at: 9th Jul 2008 21:41
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Quote: "Electricity."


No, they last on a small tank of gas which can last you from Los Angeles to New York. And this is legit, it was on CNN.

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Agent Dink
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 22:12
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Quote: "And this is legit, it was on CNN."


So they might have you believe ^_^

J/K... well sort of

BTW, the joke was about CNN not the point you made about the air car running with a small tank of fuel.

MISoft Studios - Silver-Dawn

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Benji
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 22:31
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What, so you think CNN is a phony?

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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 9th Jul 2008 22:35
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Find me a mainstream news provider that isn't.


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Grandma
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Posted: 10th Jul 2008 00:24
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Quote: "So they might have you believe ^_^"

haha, I wanted to make a similar joke.

I do love the: "It was on TV, it has to be true" mentality. Mainstream media in the US is owned by big corporations. If something doesn't benefit them, they won't report on it, or they spin the facts in their favour, and sometimes "forget" a few essential details of a story. And even, once in a while just outright lies. Like that story about mercury, being good for you. (no joke).

This message was brought to you by Grandma industries.

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Benji
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Posted: 10th Jul 2008 04:16
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I don't have that kind of mentality, because if I did, I would support Barack Obama. And it's not like the USA is the only country with that same type of Mainstream media.

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Chenak
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Posted: 10th Jul 2008 04:41
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't all those "green cars" need materials which require an extraction process that make acres of land permanently screwed up? I walked into a chemistry seminar where someone was giving an interesting talk about many of the so called technologies that were labeled "good for the environment" when the processes that makes them produces more severe problems than polution from burning fossil fuels.
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Syncaidius
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Posted: 10th Jul 2008 05:05
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Just think if you cut a hole in the seat then weld a pipe from the seat to the air tanks. All you'd need to take with you is a crate full of eggs and baked beans and I bet you could manage 200 miles without refueling.


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Venge
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Posted: 10th Jul 2008 06:09
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Assuming your intestines could withstand the pressure, of course.

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Sunflash
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Posted: 10th Jul 2008 07:38
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Quote: "Just think if you cut a hole in the seat then weld a pipe from the seat to the air tanks. All you'd need to take with you is a crate full of eggs and baked beans and I bet you could manage 200 miles without refueling."


Pfft, thats stupid, and I hope it never gets implemented, just think, the price of eggs and beans would go up!!

lol, j/k

Mountain Dew, happiness in a bottle.
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Tom J
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Posted: 10th Jul 2008 12:36
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Quote: "Just think if you cut a hole in the seat then weld a pipe from the seat to the air tanks. All you'd need to take with you is a crate full of eggs and baked beans and I bet you could manage 200 miles without refueling.
"


That reminds me of that film, Thunderpants, about the weird kid in the fart powered rocket. Worst film ever.

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 10th Jul 2008 13:48
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Quote: "I'll have this instead."


Always wanted a Lotus, a Tesla made in a Lotus factory, well who can argue with that? All we need now is electricity that comes from natural resources instead of some of the less environmentally friendly powerstations.

Quote: "And it's not like the USA is the only country with that same type of Mainstream media."


Nope, but it doesn't mean their word is as reliable as you'd hope. It'd be nice to have mainstream media that isn't biased or full of propaganda, but just tell the news how it is. (We have quite bad mainstream media as well) Interesting how many Daily Mail readers will complain about foreign people and are scared of getting knifed by an Asian or black gang.

"Experience never provides its judgments with true or strict universality; but only (through induction) with assumed and comparative universality." - Immanuel Kant
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monotonic
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Posted: 10th Jul 2008 14:12
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That taxi looks like the one in Total Recall, I wonder if it comes with a crappy looking robotic taxi driver?

My liver is evil, I must kill it!
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Peter H
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Posted: 10th Jul 2008 18:03
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If we would just adopt more nuclear power, all we would have to do is figure out a way to produce cheaper electric cars (or just mass produce the roadster....)

One man, one lawnmower, plenty of angry groundhogs.
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Satchmo
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Posted: 10th Jul 2008 18:11
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Electric cars would be more convenient if we could

a) Extend the range of them to atleast 300 miles

b) Figure out how to charge them wayyy faster.

Until then there just not worth driving.

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monotonic
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Posted: 10th Jul 2008 18:14
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Hydrogen powered cars are the future I believe. They create their own electricity from water so, they would only require a little charge to enable them to start the process and they're away.

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hyrichter
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Posted: 10th Jul 2008 21:46
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Quote: "They create their own electricity from water so, they would only require a little charge to enable them to start the process and they're away.
"


No, no, no, NO!! (Sorry)

When will people figure out that it takes more power to get hydrogen from water than you'll ever get from the hydrogen? Hydrogen is the future, but not the "fill up your tank with water" type. Now, if you're producing loads of hydrogen using solar or wind power, then that's great, and exactly what we should be doing.

Take a look at United Nuclear's hydrogen car. Now THAT is the future.
http://www.switch2hydrogen.com/

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Irojo
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Posted: 10th Jul 2008 23:03
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I saw something about this before too. It's safe to be believed.

+

View my signature people!!!

I urge you to watch the film "Who killed the electric car". Support electric cars! Did you know their used to be more electric cars then gassoline cars?
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Matt Rock
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Posted: 11th Jul 2008 19:43
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Not all electric cars are slow... the one I linked to there outperforms a Ferrari and a Porsche.

ecocars are all outrageously ugly because they're designed by scientists instead of artists. Well, I say "all," but they aren't really all ugly. For instance, the BMW Hydrogen 7 is prettier than a 5 series, and faster than your average sedan. While the US government is going toward corn ethanol, and some wackjob scientists are moving toward things like compressed air, the vast majority of the automobile industry seems pretty set on hydrogen fuel cells. Imagine a car where the only biproduct of driving around is DRINKABLE water... pretty cool! Just finish up a camping trip and thirsty from a hike? Just suck on the exhaust pipe of your car for a nice refreshing drink .

Anyway, amongst the car companies that are making hydrogen vehicles, that I know of anyway: BMW, Honda, Fiat, Mazda, Renault, Toyota... and even General Motors, if you'll believe that. With the exception of Fiat (Pandas aren't cool cars regardless of what they run on!), they should mostly be cool-looking vehicles with at least reasonable performance.

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 11th Jul 2008 19:58
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Quote: "Just finish up a camping trip and thirsty from a hike? Just suck on the exhaust pipe of your car for a nice refreshing drink"




Surprised no hippies have tried using their car exhausts as a way of getting high.

Get us some pretty looking eco cars and then maybe you can market them, I like the Electric Roadster (the one made in the Lotus gallery) looks sexy for a car, now if Eco cars took on the same idea.

"Experience never provides its judgments with true or strict universality; but only (through induction) with assumed and comparative universality." - Immanuel Kant
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Phaelax
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Posted: 11th Jul 2008 23:17
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Who would seriously wanna drive something that looked like that? That's the main problem why new car technologies never take off, they debut in the ugliest designs possible.

If I have to drive something that looks like that, then I want a Peel P50! (Top Gear fans know what I mean)


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