By Dave Stancliff
Published: Jul 12 2008, 11:53 PM

How would you like a car, or truck, that ran on air? For real. No more gasoline. No more air pollution.
Vehicles that run on compressed air are already on the road, zipping around the French Rivera and other parts of Europe while you read this.
As it turns out, compressed-air technology (CAT), or the concept of running a vehicle on compressed air, has been around for quite some time.
As a matter of fact, the first recorded compressed-air vehicle was built in France by Andraud and Tessie of Motay in 1838. The true father of the compressed-air car concept however, was an American, Charles B. Hodges, who not only invented the first air car, but who also had considerable commercial success with it in the early 1900s.
In 1934, 21-year-old, Johannes Wardenier, claimed he had developed the world’s first air-driven automobile. For weeks, Dutch newspapers reported about the sensational new fuel-less automobile. Not long after that, he mysteriously disappeared and was sent to a mental institution; later to a German concentration camp where his new idea died with him. His engine design was stolen and soon forgotten.
The idea of an air car surfaced many times in America, but never seemed to catch on. Why did Hodges’ cutting-edge technology quietly disappear? Was it something more along the lines of urban legends where oil companies pay inventors to keep viable alternative energies out of the mainstream market?
Consider the following. You had Williard Truitt, who in 1970, announced his invention of a car that ran on air, but no one seemed to care. Then there was Russel R. Brown, in 1974, who claimed he had the best air car design. In 1976, Ray Starbard from Vacaville, Calif., developed, and drove around, a truck that ran on compressed air.
In 1979, Terry Miller, developed Air Car One, which he built for $1,500. He even patented his engine. Still, he didn’t bring it into production.
Throughout the Eighties, guys like Carl Leissler, Claud Mead, and George Miller, came up with workable versions of an air car. Yet, for reasons I can’t explain, none of those air cars was ever produced on an assembly line in this country.
Next month, India’s largest automaker, Tata Motors, will be premiering it’s first air-powered car with Frenchman, Guy Negre’s, innovative engine. That’s right. About 6,000 zero-emission cars will be scooting around the streets of India, in August, as we struggle to pay rising gas prices in America.
The cost of a fill-up? Brace yourself. About two-and-half dollars! This air technology has been up and running since Dec. 2, 2004 when French engineer named Negre perfected a low-pollution engine for urban motoring.
He commercially introduced cars, trucks and vans, that ran on air in 2005. The French MiniCAT car, CitiCAT taxi (with room for up to five passengers), and the MiniCAT pick-up trucks and vans, are already available for commercial use from his company, Motor Development International.
MDI has offices in France, but they are expanded rapidly. Other European countries, such as the U.K. and Italy, are already using air cars. The good news is there’s a company based in New Paltz, N.Y. which plans on manufacturing — in association with MDI — air cars for Americans!
Google Zero Pollution Motors (ZPM). They plan to roll out a fleet of air cars in North America by 2010. You can even order one next year.
Let’s hope that other American manufacturers go the same route. The sooner, the better.
Early concerns of range and power have been addressed with systems that can be recharged at home, dual-use technologies — such as electricity and air compression — and some models already have built-in recharging systems. The power output has been increased to the point that these vehicles are viable now.
We all know the time for change is here. The sooner we can convert to air, the sooner we can improve the air we breathe, and get fossil-free. This zero-emissions technology is not something out of a comic book. It’s real.
As It Stands, I can’t help pondering over why we haven’t taken advantage of this sensible technology in the United States a long time ago, when it’s apparent we’ve known about it for decades?
Dave Stancliff is a columnist for The Eureka Reporter. He is a former newspaper editor and publisher. His e-mail address is: richstan1@suddenlink.net.