Peugeot Citroen unveils new hybrid car that runs on air

New Delhi, Jan 23: French car giant PSA Peugeot Citroen has said it will put an air- powered vehicle on the road by 2016. Yes you heard it right – a vehicle that runs on air!If the claims are to be believed then the car is sure to shave off 45 per cent of your fuel bills. While in towns and cities the amount could be as much as 80 per cent less since the car will be running on air for four-fifths of the time.Here's how it works: the vehicle has a normal internal combustion engine, special hydraulics and an adapted gearbox along with compressed air cylinders that store and release energy. The system enables the car to run on petrol or air, or a mixture of both. The company believes the cars by 2020 could be achieving a mileage of 117 miles a gallon. It says while in a city the car will use the air power which gets automatically activated below 43mph and available for ‘60 to 80 per cent of the time in city driving'.The ‘Hybrid Air' engine system – the first to combine petrol with compressed air – is one of its kind in the hybrid cars category and will make the use of batteries redundant.In addition, these hybrid models will also be much cheaper than the current hybrid models. Engineers at Peugeot's research and development centre at Velizy, just south of Paris, have been working for long on this particular car. Analysts also believe such a car would easily restore the fortunes of the historic car maker.A company spokesperson said the new car would not have any wired design but will look like just an ordinary car. The system can be installed on any family car without altering its external shape or size or reducing the boot size, provided the spare wheel is not stored there.Peugeot, which has unveiled its prototype, envisages introducing it in smaller models at first.Peugeot was founded in 1810 and the family still has a controlling stake.