The Air Car, made by French company MDI, could be launched by Tata Motors in India by 2010-11.
Replying to an email query, the French company said, "We will release in France the first cars for the Air France company before June 2009. The cars will be available for the public at the end of 2009."
Mumbai-based Tata Motors, India's third biggest car manufacturer had signed a licensing agreement with MDI for manufacturing the car in India. The agreement between the two envisages development and refinement of the technology.
The Air Car doesn't require traditional fuel options like petrol, diesel, or gas and is driven primarily by compressed air. However, the company has also developed an alternative means to power the car using a combination of air and petrol, diesel or ethanol, just like a hybrid.
"Tata Motors has not finalised any timeframe for deployment of the technology of engines powered by compressed air. Tata Motors is licensed to deploy the technology only in India. As and when we have any details of deployment in India, we will share them with you", said the company's spokesperson through email.
MDI has developed several models of the Air Car designed to accommodate two to six passengers. A typical three-seater car, which had been unveiled earlier, is about 2.65 metre in length (smaller than Nano, which is 3.1 metre) and 1.62 metre wide (wider than Nano).
The price of the car will be unveiled at the launch, but, according to the company's website, its price may range from Rs 233,000 to Rs 869,000.
Consumers can use an air compressing device at home or take it to a filling station to fill compressed air. The car is emission-free.
A Mini Flow Air (as labelled by MDI) can travel up to 180 km under urban conditions on mono energy, which is, only compressed air, and up to 1,500 km on dual energy on the highway consuming, just 1.8 litres of petrol.
In addition, the top speed on the mono energy car will be 110 km an hour. On dual energy, it can do 130 km an hour, according to the company.
