MDI MiniCAT

Here at Top Gear we're big fans of air. In fact, we swear by the stuff. Couldn't do without it.

And, if the MDI MiniCAT is anything to go by, cars could soon be joining us in our addiction to the clear stuff.

Guy Negre, the founder of MDI, has been beavering away to produce a car that runs on compressed gas since 1991, and he finally reckons he's close to cracking it.

MDI has just signed a deal with Indian company Tata to speed up putting the MiniCAT into production.

Running solely on compressed air - and therefore producing zero emissions - the MiniCAT has a range of up to 200 miles and a heady top speed of 68mph. More of an urban runaround than a motorway cruiser, we feel.

But the MiniCAT is impressively cost efficient. MDI engineers have quoted running costs of just £1.80 per 100 miles, and, without the pressures of combustion, the MiniCAT only requires an oil change once every 31,000 miles.

And because the clean air expelled by the exhaust pipe is a few degrees below zero, there's no need for an internal air-conditioning system.

Of course, there's that little problem of finding a petrol station that'll supply you with compressed gas, but MDI reckons that adapted filling points will become more common.

If it all sounds a little too good to be true, just remember that there's got to be some energy expended to compress the air in the first place.

If MDI can solve that riddle - and the fact that the MiniCAT looks like the car that Borat drove across America - we might be looking at clean-breathing cars in the not-too-distant future.

© Source: topgear
We need your comments below >>