September 30, 2008 | 7:25 pm

Air car coming by 2010 - no gas, zero emissions

Something made a big splash at last week’s West Coast Green, which featured former veep and Nobel laureate Al Gore and broadcasting genius David Suzuki: the Magnetic Air Car, zero-emissions vehicle that requires no fuel or charging.

According to the manufacturer, Magnetic Air Cars, here’s how the system works:

“A battery starts a magnetic motor… which in turn drives a small but powerful on-board air compressor. The air flow is then tubocharged and multiplied to where the resulting horse-pressure smoothly powers the car to incredible speeds… without ever getting hot and without ever having to be stopped for external recharging or refueling. And automobiles are just the beginning. How about vans, SUVs, trucks, boats, trains… even planes! You’re about to witness the birth of a whole new mode of transportation. Just imagine the possibilities! So sit back, believe it will happen, and then… watch it happen. It’s inevitable.“

The idea is based on technology first developed in 1932 by J.M. Custer in Piggott, Ark.

“We believe that Custer in 1932 may have used some type of magnetic motor and generator to heat the air until the tanks reached 200 PSI. Our prototype Magnetic Air Car is the end result of that first step made more than 75 years ago to provide a clean-tech, low-cost solution for our current energy crisis. We are passionate about fulfilling Custer’s vision,“ CEO Manual Parks told the Almaden Times Weekly.

Other air cars are currently being developed in India (Tata One) and Korea, but Parks says their design is different.

When comparing the designs, our Magnetic Air Car uses air-bearing turbo chargers and our competitors use traditional pistons. These competing motors use compressed air instead of gasoline to drive a piston. The French design, for example, only has a driving distance of about 160 kilometers (100 miles) before the air tanks need to be refilled at a filling station — taking anywhere from 10 minutes to as much as four hours to fill. Filling their vehicles’ air tanks also consume energy. We feel that their design is inefficient and a waste of mechanical energy.

The team designing the car is self-funded and has been working on the project for several years. They expect to have the car ready by 2010 “or sooner.”

Magnetic Air Cars is moving its operation from Silicon Valley to Club Auto Sport in San Jose starting Oct. 7.

According to Earth2Tech, the company is looking to raise bridge financing over the next few months before more substantial funding comes in.

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