Motor Development International
| Private S.A. | |
| Industry | Automobile industry |
| Genre | Car manufacturer |
| Founded | Carros |
| Founder | Guy Nègre |
| Headquarters | Carros, France |
|
Key people
|
Guy Nègre, Cyril Nègre |
| Products | Compressed air car |
| Website | http://mdi.lu/ |
Motor Development International SA (MDI) is a French company (incorporated in Luxembourg) designing compressed air car prototypes marketed under the title "the Air car".
The OneCAT Air Car (later renamed OneFlowAIR) was shown at the 2008 New York Car Show from March 21–30, 2008. It was displayed under the Exhibitor: "Automotive X-Prize" in location: Crystal Palace CP12.
MDI proposes a range of vehicles developed on an identical concept.
Established by Guy Nègre, the Luxembourg company MDI, with its administrative and production departments based in Carros in southeastern France, has developed an environmentally friendly car engine that uses compressed air to push the pistons of the engine and move the car. The Air Car has been in development for twenty years. The design, particularly the engine, has undergone several radical changes.
In the original Nègre air engine, one piston compresses air from the atmosphere to mix with the stored compressed air (which will cool drastically as it expands). This mixture drives the second piston, providing the actual engine power. Nègre's engine works with constant torque, and the only way to change the torque to the wheels is to use a continuously variable transmission, losing some efficiency. Armando Regusci's version of the air engine has several advantages over the original Nègre design.
In Regusci's version, the engine is connected directly to the wheel, and delivers variable torque from zero to the maximum, enhancing efficiency. When the vehicle is stopped, Guy Nègre's engine must continue to run, losing energy, while the Regusci's version need not. In 2001-2004 MDI switched to a design similar to that described in Regusci's patents, which date back to 1990.
Zero Pollution Motors and MDI are among the teams who have committed to participation in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize competition. As of September 2009 they do not appear on the list of registered teams. As of October 2009 it appears they did not qualify for the next stage in the competition.
2000-2009: Production in France was claimed to be starting in late 2000, and at frequent intervals, in several countries, thereafter.
2003: The Eolo Car is a version of the Air Car that was to be manufactured in Italy in 2003, but failed to get into production.
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