Do concept cars ever get anywhere? Based on what I’ve seen - let’s hope so!

Last month I heard about the 5 seater OneCAT Aircar. This car (yes it’s a car despite it’s van like shape) runs on compressed air and producers no nasty emissions. The compressed air is stored in carbon-fibre tanks which powers the pistons.

OneCAT

The performance can be boosted with by a fuel burner which heats the air so it expands and increases the pressure on the pistons. The OneCAT weights around 350kg and will cost just over £2500 GBP. The designer says that the car is capable of doing 120MPG and that there is no safty risk. The OneCAT soon after being brought into the public eye was picked up by the Indian car giant TATA.

Maybe TATA should have waited a month for something a bit more flashy to add to there portfolio such as:

The LifeCar

 

The LifeCar is a zero-emission sports car powered by hydrogen & based on the Morgan Aero-8 roadster design. The LifeCar has been developed by a consortium of UK companies and universities.

Other collaborators on the project include RiverSimple, Cranfield University, Oxford University and Linde AG.

The lightweight model packs advanced fuel cells and an energy storage system that gives the car a range of 250 miles per tank of hydrogen. It also has a top speed of 90 MPH. The car uses two wooden seats to provide weight to keep the car low.

 

However, despite it’s dashing good looks and unique engineering, it has attacted much criticism. Critics point out that to produce hydrogen by splitting water uses a large amount of electricity. At present, the majority of this electricity comes power stations burning fossil fuels and therefore brings no environmental benefit.

The car will be on display at the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland between 6 and 16 March.

More images are availible here.