History of the compressed air motor

The earliest successful use of pneumatic propulsion happened during the Civil War. General Haupt, a Union officer, converted locomotives to use air power. Charged at water powered compressor stations, these locomotives carried tons of Union supplies silently and without smoke to the Union troops. Toward the turn of the 19th century, many minor projects achieved working vehicles. Among them were an air powered street car used in Paris in the 1880s. An air powered subway car used in the Broadway line of the New York subway system in 1888. The car was designed by the creator of 'Scientific American' magazine.

With the advent of large scale coal operations at the turn of the century, a dual pressure air motor was used to move men and materials into and out of the mine shafts. It required no external air to run, produced no flame or spark, and had zero pollution. This engine was the earliest financial success of air powered vehicles.

During the 20th century there were various small projects involving pneumatic propulsion. In the 1930s, the Germans developed a Diesel/pneumatic hybrid that was 20% more efficient than current designs. With the advent of cheap gasoline, technologies like steam and air driven cars fell out of favor. There was a brief rebirth during the 70s caused by the Arab oil embargo, and a few air powered vehicles were built. By 1977, a prototype air vehicle demo was developed and displayed at the 1977 energy fair. The picture below shows an air powered tricycle giving free rides around an energy conference in 1978. The inventor gave rides to people on that cart for three days and never had to refill the air tank (notice the single cylinder long stroke air motor by the rear wheel.)

Today, the French have developed an air powered mini-car meant to be used as an in city utility vehicle. Thousands of these vehicles have been sold. The HUE air motor is much more practical and multi-purposed. The other air cars have a general range of 30 miles before re-fueling the air. Our motor has a target range of 100-120 miles without the need to replenish the tanks using the HUE conformal air tanks.

When used as part of the 'Planned Solar Community', the car would provide a commuter vehicle that would be charged by a solar powered compressor, and would not generate any greenhouse or ozone depleting gasses. The HUE motor will ensure the United States a place as the industry leader in compressed air technology and potentially end the 'pain at the pump'.