I was commenting on the viability of electric vehicles in general, not about this Micron. I was responding to the topics put forward by Mr. Daniel – regarding compressed air and bio methane cars (comment 31) and Mr. Thomas’s comments (#33).

Small steps are great as long as they are in the right direction. If this were going to be an alternative to an ICE lawnmower, it would be in the right direction. As a personal vehicle for urban travel, it seems to me to fall very short of what the majority of people would consider spending money on.

Public transportation offers a safer and I’m sure much more comfortable experience than something like this. If you do it right, it will catch on, sell and become mainstream. If you ignore what people want, then unfortunately it will become one of those things that falls by the wayside. Just my opinion….

Pioneering steps are always difficult and sometimes painfully slow in bearing fruit.

I’m an Architect by profession and I’d like to share with you the history of RCC. As you all may be knowing, it was invented by Joseph Monier a Parisian gardener for making stronger flower pots and tubs. He received a patent in 1867.

Though he exhibited his invention in the Paris Exposition of 1867 and promoted the use of reinforced concrete for a wide variety of applications like railway ties, pipes, arches and bridges, nothing great happened in his lifetime.

But see what great change his humble invention did to 20th century Architecture. RCC along with the invention of elevators has led to the birth of the skyscraper.

The small steps that we are taking today may help our children or grand children tomorrow. The most important thing is to be bold enough to take the risk of making the first steps today which may or may not see the light of the day.

The electric dynamo I’m working on is pneumatic based. There’s a long way to go before I can say that it’s the answer. I have a long way to go to convince myself, let alone to convince you or the world!.

The Tata – MDI Air car is a good initiative that has been in the news for some years. I’m glad that it is now about to be produced. There’s similar Australian initiative for small industrial vehicles http://www.engineair.com.au.

There are but some impediments for these engines to replace the old fashioned IC engine:

1) Compressed air needs large and strong tanks to hold it under pressure, which can make the vehicles heavy and cumbersome.

2) Compressing air needs a lot of energy. If this energy is not from a green source like solar, wind or bio mass, the car can no longer be called green.

About the bio mathane that you have mentioned, its merits should be compared to other bio mass based fuels like bio diesel to determine its viability on a long term and large scale basis.

I’d like to repeat that the future belongs to electric cars. Providing wheel dedicated motors can do away with the transmission systems which weigh down present day cars.

But again, for the electric car to replace the IC engine, we need better capacity battery packs and the power for recharging should be from a green source. Better capacity batteries are now coming up, but the green source is something that cannot be guaranteed always.

So for the electric engine to replace the IC engine, an on-board electric power production device based on a green source is required.That’s the area that I’m working on and I’m confident that we can do away with the IC engine in the near future.

Has anyone ever considered a special road where an electric vehicle could derive its power right from the road like an electric train and then jump onto an onboard battery when leaving this roadway? A network of these connecting towns and cities would go a long way to put the electric vehicle far ahead of where it currently is (pun intended). In France, they’re big on nuclear power. This would be perfect. Then they could put a meter on it and bill you for the kilowatts you use every month.

This glorified golf car isn’t the answer to any of this…