Many of us have jobs, or school, or some other daily function of society that we travel to, and at the end of the day, we travel home from. National Statistical Averages reports an average one-way commute time of 26 minutes (over an average distance of 16 miles). But the variance is huge: On the best days, the average commute is 19 minutes; on the worst days, 46 minutes. That means traffic, at its worst, can double the average commute time, adding 27 minutes each way. That means that on average, we Americans spend roughly an hour to an hour and a half every day in a car, travelling 30 to 35 miles. If your the standard person you do this 5 times a week, 49 weeks a year.
Doing the math, that means in a year, you put 7350 to 8575 miles on your car just idling in traffic to get to work in your gas guzzler, putting in about 429 gallons of fuel. At the current national average, this means you spend 1,287 dollars a year, just on the gas you spend while driving to work and home. That's not counting trips to the store, vacations, dinners out, and everywhere else you travel in your car. The Average Family in america puts roughly 20,000 to 25,000 miles on their car every year, and trade in their car every 4-6 years.
Let that soak in for a few moments....
Ask yourself what you would do to spend less money on fuel in this country. As yourself if an Alternative fuel vehicle would work for you. Ask yourself if you can afford a new vehicle. Now ask yourself if you could afford it if it paid you back...
Take into consideration the money you'd save on Gasoline. Take into consideration the tax write-off of $3,500 every year for 5 years ($17,500 total) just for owning an alternative fuel vehicle that produces less emissions then a standard fuel vehicle. Now take into consideration the social global impact... The oil spill in the gulf, the war in Iraq (which we all know is over the oil) the rising taxes, the damaged economy, the pollution, all are factors of our dependence of gasoline to get to and from work.
I present to you the alternative... I present to you the future.
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| MDI CitiAirFlow |
MDI (Motor Development International) has spent years developing a modern take on an old technology. This is an Air powered car, thats right AIR. It utilized a modernized version of a steam powered piston system, only instead of using water and heat to make pressurized air on board, it uses previously compressed air stored in large tanks in its belly, to power the car to comparable highway speeds (85mph max) for a distance of approximately 1000 miles per fill of the tanks (which takes roughly 5-10 minutes using a gas or electric powered air compressor roughly 1 cubic foot in size. Some models even come equipped with an air compressor powered by the engines pulley system so as to provide a partial fill while driving.
This model here, the CitiAirFlow, seats 6 comfortably, has all the modern amenities as a standard automobile, except it produces ZERO emissions. Here's the best part, this baby is DOT and EPA rated for US Sales, and if you order one, will only set you back around $24,000. Now I know what your thinking, but here me out. While 24,000 is a lot of money, most finance a car for 5 years anyways. Now do the math.
24,000 Car purchase price (financed for 5 year)
- 17,500 Green Air Act Tax Rebate (over 5 years)
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6,500/5 (number of years) = 1,300 per year is your total expense (not including taxes and tags)
bare in mind you CURRENTLY spend 1,287 dollars a year on fuel just going back and forth to work... if you put 10,000 miles on your car every year (half the national average), you currently spend $30,000 on gas alone. With the money you save on gas, you could pay this car off in less then a year!
Did I mention this isn't the economy version? The OneFlowAir seats 3 to 5 (depending on configuration) and totes a price tag of LESS then $10,000 Dollars US and if applied to the above mathematical model, pays for itself with the tax credit alone, let alone the savings on fuel!
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| MDI OneAirFlow With all of these factors, the only question really is, who can we as a society NOT afford vehicles like this? How can we continue to guzzle down fossil fuels like there's plenty of it to last until the sun burns out, when the truth is, there's no need for it at all? |
17 comments:
It is so cool, but like razortek, I think they could make the cars more appealing, really.
This is great!
They look like cars from Fisher Price or whatever company made those toy cars we used to ride in. You know what I'm talking about the red and yellow ones.
I'd love to see these on the road! Bring them on!
Those look interesting but not something I would ever buy.
I would be too embarrassed to drive that actually.
http://dookpatrol.blogspot.com
Not a fan of these car designs.
Like others have mentioned, they just look plain ugly.
if they made it not look like a child's toy i'd be so in.
It is a bit silly looking isn't it.
the point everyone who posted here is missing is that these are just coming out of prototype phase, and while the body designs may not be all that great looking for American car buyers, its on par with the styling and looks of LOTS of cars coming out of the test phase. The Prius, the Tesla roadster, and the new Civic all looked like rolling turds in this phase.
The focus your missing is that this engine and propulsion system is so minuscule, it could be put into ANY body style of practically ANY car with great success. The design is for an ENGINE that produces ZERO emissions, not for the cutting edge car, and if you look at other designs for commuter cars, you'd see that this is right on par.
very nice blog!
I think its kinda cute actually I would drive it.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN
Big step in the right direction here, now if they could give me a air powered full size fan that would be awesome!
@splash87 - They do in fact make a 9 and 7 passenger van like vehicle, as well as a cargo/work van.
this is intense! I can't believe I never heard of it before, thanks for sharing!
awesome blog btw,
followin!
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