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The AirPod is a three-seat and three-wheel car that runs on compressed air.

(Credit: CNET)

Among the plethora of alternative fuels being put forth to replace oil, the most odd might seem simple: air. But MDI International, based in Luxembourg, showed off a car at the 2009 Geneva auto show that runs on just that. What motivates the little AirPod concept is the energy from compressed air stored in a tank at 5,000 pounds per square inch (PSI).

The driver sits alone in the AirPod, turning the front wheel with a joystick.

(Credit: CNET)

The AirPod vehicle is small, holding just three passengers, with a single seat facing front for the driver and a bench facing backward for two more people. MDI claims a range of more than 112 miles in an urban setting, and less than two minutes to refill the 46-gallon air tank. But even though the AirPod can reach speeds of just less than 45 mph, the air-powered engine produces only 8 horsepower, suggesting slow acceleration.

Because of the low horsepower, the AirPod is designed to be exceptionally light, coming in at 485 pounds. Because the air tank and engine don’t take up much room, most of the AirPod is devoted to passenger space. The car is a three-wheeler, and the driver uses a joystick to turn, rather than a conventional steering wheel.

Although air power means the AirPod drives emission-free, some energy is required to compress air into its tank. MDI puts the cost of a tank refill at just 1 euro.

MDI has announced deals with Air France and KLM to run a test fleet of the AirPod cars at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris and Schipol airport in Amsterdam.

The flying car is the equivalent of transportation’s carrot on a stick. It’s a concept that always seems to be 3-5 years down the road. According to an Isreali inventor named Rafi Yoeli, the flying car will actually be here by 2010 in the form of his X-Hawk. The X-Hawk uses a ducted fan design that allows it to have the same manueverability of a helicopter without exposed blades that prevent choppers from hovering near buildings and the like. Yoeli’s own company, Urban Aeronautics, is developing the X-Hawk first as a workhorse vehicle that could be used by firefighters, rescue teams, and the military to aid in the recovery of people stranded in hard to reach places.

Like a helicopter, the X-Hawk can take off and land vertically, it will be able to fly up to 155 mph, reach an altitude of 12,000 ft and remain in the air for two hours. The size of the X-Hawks rotors, which are powere by four internal combustion engines, will be much smaller than a helicopters, which will make the vehicle quieter but also guzzle 50% more fuel. The X-Hawk only exists as a full-scale mockup right now, but Yoeli expects an unmanned Mule version to fly in 2009. A larger version capable of carrying ten people is also planned. The estimated price for an X-Hawk will make a Veyron owner blush: between $1.5 and $3.5 million, and Yoeli admits those estimates might be low.

At this point, we’re prepared to pony up whatever cash is necessary to make the most famous example of automotive vaporware a reality. Check out more details on the X-Hawk after the jump.

Volkswagen has announced that the documentary “Racing Under Green”—detailing the trials and tribulations of the Jetta TDI Cup, the U.S.’ only professional green racing series—will premiere the week of January 18 on the various channels of Discovery Networks, including Planet Green, Discovery Channel, and The Science Channel.

In addition to following the stories of last season’s 25 drivers, the hour long documentary will examine some of the “green” aspects of the Jetta TDI Cup, including the use of biodiesel blends and the support of carbonfund.org.

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It’s been a busy Fall for the making-fuel-out-of-pollution-using-nothing-but-the-power-of-the-sun crowd. First we heard about a company that says it has succeeded in creating a system that uses engineered microbes in reactors out in the desert to eat carbon dioxide and poop out diesel and ethanol. Next we heard about a crazy mirror-ring contraption that reaches amazingly high temperatures to force carbon dioxide to give up one oxygen to make a precursor to fuel. And now…

Researchers at UCLA have engineered a bacteria that can eat carbon dioxide and burp out butanol—a liquid fuel that can be substituted into our existing fuel infrastructure without modification. Yep, that’s right, even your old jalopy can burn butanol without any side effects.

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Toyota has released the special edition Toyota iQ Collection at 2009 Frankfurt Auto show. The Toyota iQ Collection focuses on the cabin, with the white pearl finish of the body carried through to trim details such as the center console, instrument binnacle and door panels. The leather upholstery is a matching white shade, with a [...]

Honda has revealed more info and photos of the upcoming 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour. Based on the Accord sedan, the Crosstour hatchback will leverage the Accord’s performance and handling, presumably sharing powertrains and car-like road manners with the sedan. However, it will offer a higher seating position akin to the "command seating" position common to SUVs.

The design is aerodynamic, sporty, and functional, concealing a cargo area that can hold larger items that couldn’t fit in a typical Accord. The Crosstour will be positioned above the Accord, so expect pricing to start in the upper $20s and extend into the $30s. It will complete most directly with the Toyota Venza wagon that went on sale last year. (The Crosstour should not be confused with the upcoming Acura ZDX shown at the 2009 New York International Auto Show, which may look similar in photos but is derived from the MDX SUV.)

Further details including pricing will be revealed closer to production.

The Crosstour will be at dealerships in October.

—Liza Barth  

A few recalls have been announced recently that affect the Toyota Corolla, Matrix, Scion xD as well as Volkswagen Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, GTI and Eos. If your vehicle is listed here, the manufacturer will contact you with information about what to do, or you can use one of the numbers we list below to contact the manufacturer yourself.

2009 & 2010 Toyota Corolla and Matrix, 2008 & 2009 Scion xD

Toyota has announced a voluntary safety recall involving 95,700 Toyota Corolla, Toyota Matrix and Scion xD vehicles equipped with the 1.8 liter engine. If the vehicle operates in very low outside temperatures, there is a risk that condensed moisture from the PVC port can seep into the brake system vacuum port and freeze. If the condition continues ice can accumulate and cause the port to plug up. That would affect the vehicle’s braking ability and lead to increased stopping distances.

This recall only affects vehicles in 19 states where temperatures can reach lower levels. The states include Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Owners will receive a notification of the recall in the mail and dealers will install a newly designed connector which will move the brake system vacuum port. Questions regarding the recall can be answered by calling Toyota at 1-800-331-4331 or Scion at 1-866-707-2466

2009 and 2010 Volkswagen Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, GTI, and Eos

Volkswagen has announced a voluntary recall involving 13,500 vehicles equipped with DSG transmissions built between September 2008 and August 2009. The transmission has a faulty temperature sensor that could result in a warning light on the dashboard and may shift the vehicle into neutral.

Owners will be notified by Volkswagen to schedule an appointment with a dealer who will repair if necessary. Questions can be directed to 1-800-444-8982.

It’s been about two years since General Motors rolled out its Project Driveway program, which puts ordinary citizens behind the wheel of a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered Chevrolet Equinox for a couple of months. This week, the 116 cars in the program rolled past a combined total of over 1 million miles.
 
Intended to raise public awareness, dispel fears about hydrogen as a motor fuel, and provide some real-world testing, the program has about 80,000 people signed up so far. Of those, 65 have gotten a chance to be the first on their block with a hydrogen-powered Equinox; some vehicles have racked up 25,000 miles.
 
So what has Chevy learned? According to Chris Colquitt, GM’s Driver Relationship Manager for Fuel Cell Activities, response to the program has been overwhelmingly positive. The biggest mechanical problem they’ve had with the vehicles has been with simple sensors for things like temperature and fuel pressure, which he says initially proved difficult to find in automotive-grade quality. But GM has been working with suppliers to develop more robust units.
 
Another issue was that some of the first cars required 20-30 seconds to start up in below zero temperatures, but Colquitt says GM engineers have reduced that to two to three seconds in all but the coldest weather. GM has seen no problems with hot weather conditions. Beyond that, the vehicles have proven reliable and people reportedly find them easy to live with.
 
Our own experience driving early examples almost two years ago was much the same. The vehicles seemed free of quirks and seemingly ready for prime time. The driving experience is quiet and smooth, about what you would expect from an electric car, which is what fuel-cell vehicles are.
 
The fuel cell powertrains have 60 percent fewer parts, and 90 percent fewer moving parts than a gasoline engine, so it’s not too surprising that Coquitt reports no major driveline issues with the hydrogen powertrain. The fuel-cell Equinox uses a 93 kw hydrogen fuel cell and 300-volt nickel-metal hydride battery.  

The obstacles that remain are the lack of a hydrogen delivery and refueling infrastructure, and the cost of the batteries and related technology for the cars. Both are substantial obstacles. Today the National Hydrogen Association lists 64 hydrogen fueling stations in operation in the U.S. Only three of those are capable of giving today’s hydrogen cars like the fuel-cell Equinoxes a full tank. The government estimates it would take about 12,000 stations to supply the whole U.S., with urban stations every three miles, and stations spaced within 25 miles along interstates. It has set 2018 as a goal to develop that refueling network, though development funding is currently suspended. And even if the stations were built, it’s unclear where much of the hydrogen will come from. There is enough extra hydrogen produced today to power 1 million vehicles, but industrial demand for the gas is also growing.  

The 116 vehicles in the Project Driveway program are part of GM’s fourth-generation of hydrogen models. Colquitt says between generations three and four, cost dropped by 50 percent from roughly 100 times the cost of a traditional internal combustion powertrain, or about $1 million. He expects the cost for the next generation sould be about 10 times more than a gas engine, which would be about $100,000. That’s still a lot of money.
 
GM and other automakers have said previously that two primary factors will drive costs down to an affordable level:

1. Materials science, using nano technology to reduce the amount of platinum needed for the fuel cells. One major factor in that will be increasing the capacity of buffer batteries to smooth out the power demand from the fuel cell. Bigger batteries will add some cost too.

2. Mass production. To that end, Colquitt says General Motors is “Fully committed to making this technology a reality”, and that the company expects to have vehicles ready for customer sale or lease by 2015. He adds that investing in fuel cell technology carries the highest risk, but that the technology offers the highest returns among alternative fuel technologies, compared to plug-in electric vehicles and biofuels.

We’ve driven most of the fuel cell cars automakers are developing. And from our perspective, it looks like the cars will likely be ready by then. Whether the world will also have the fuel remains to be seen. Electric companies have been lining up to provide power for battery electric cars. But there hasn’t been a similar commitment by fuel companies to produce hydrogen for fuel-cell cars.  
 
— Jim Travers and Eric Evarts

For more information on future automotive fuels, see our alternative fuels resource center.

Gasoline and diesel prices are down in most regions compared to the week before. The West Coast again sees a price increase. The national gasoline average is now about a $1.06 below the price this time last year. Diesel fuel is $1.41 below this time last year.

National retail fuel price averages

Regional regular gasoline prices

Source: Energy Information Administration, 9/7/09. Figures rounded to the nearest cent.

For more information on saving fuel see our reports on how to get the best gas mileage and where to find the cheapest gas.