The first air compression engine was developed to power trains and gained pretty great traction during the 1800’s. Cars then claimed the technology thanks to Charles B. Hodges. Starting in 1896, he was profiting from the industry excitement. While the inventor of the first air engine is unknown, its popularity can be attributed to Hodges.

With the oil boom in the 1900’s and the production of the Model T in 1908, all alternative vehicle technology was squeezed out of the picture. Ford’s Model T presented the American public with a cheap vehicle that nearly everybody could operate and more importantly, afford to have. This car ran on oil and, as a result, so did the public. Alternative fuel wasn’t and economic or environmental priority. In fact, the cost of oil was cheaper than the cost of creating engines that worked on air, electricity, or coal.

The process of using air as a fuel source requires an engine that will compress and releases the air. In reality, it is the motion of the air rather than the chemistry that makes the whole process work. The air still has to be manipulated by an electric motor, so it isn’t all just wind. A mechanical air compression device will squeeze the air down to condense all of the energy. The air is then released, sending it expanding to the pistons that power the engine. Air can’t do anything all by itself.

There were plenty of interesting alternative engines that were being bullied out of the market by big oil. The unique and innovative air car was no exception. While history seems to lump together the steam engine and the air compression engine, it is still no surprise the oil was coming in first place economically to blow them both out of the public eye.

The past of the air cars is a lost blip in time but the future of these innovative engine designs is hurdling full steam ahead. As early as 2003, the compression engine was on its way back into the drawing-room. In 2007, Tata Motors turned heads by introducing the CityCat. This brought the compression of air back into the spotlight for motorists, investors, and tech buffs.

With a box like frame like the Smart Car, the CityCat uses the standard air compression system that was laid out for us so many years ago. The hype about the air car went silent shortly after the CityCat announced the successful prototype and its electric brother, Smart City Car, started getting more attention. Air is by far the least perfected form of vehicle fuel that’s exciting the environmental community. Electric cars are still creating way more buzz.

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