Untitled - Ministerstwo Rozwoju Regionalnego

ange. The popularity of hybrid passenger cars is growing – 200 thousand a year
were sold in the US market in 2006-2008. In the early 2009, there were 46 models
and prototypes of hybrid cars of various makes 106 . The most popular among
them are: Toyota Prius, Toyota Highlander, Honda Civic Hybrid, Lexus RX 400h
and Lexus RX 450h, Ford Escape, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Honda Accord Hybrid,
Merkury Mariner Hybrid, Honda Insight, Ford Fusion Hybrid, Nissan Altima
Hybrid.
Among the “green” innovations are concepts connected with the development
of Air Powered Car technology. This is an old, 19th-century invention of
a Polish engineer Ludwik Mêkarski. Buses and trams built on the basis of this
concept carried millions of passengers in France and the USA, but the invention
was abandoned in the 1930s as far-reaching improvements were made in the internal
combustion cars. Now, the invention has its comeback, with improved design
and efficiency of compressed air engines. A new generation Air Car has
been designed by the MDI of France and Luxembourg (Moteur Developpement
International) 107 and is to be produced in plants in France, Spain and India
(Tata). Different versions of the car have a fibreglass body, ABS and airbag. MDI
is marketing 5 models: AIRPod, OneFlowAIR, MiniFlowAIR, CityFlowAIR and
MultiFlowAIR. The car can be filled in two ways; at a filling station with compressed
air – the filling takes ca. 3 minutes then – or by plugging the car in – the
motor-alternator works then as a compressor and fills the tanks with ambient
air. In this case, however, the filling up takes 4 hours. The AIRcar is rational environmentally,
and the efficiency of filling and low running costs may make it
popular for urban traffic.
Another vast area for innovation in road transport is the infrastructure. Here
innovations may be less of a breakthrough than in the automotive industry, but
they nevertheless enable the construction of better and more durable roads. Research
work is conducted to resolve road traffic issues as well as to make road
building and maintenance more efficient processes. Efforts are being made to
deal with such chronic traffic ills as disruptions caused by the weather (slippery
surface, covered with ice or snow), the limited strength and load-bearing capacity
of the road surface, congestion, deficient road geometry and the related risk
of accidents, limited access to current traffic reports. A more detailed analysis of
the problem is contained in the next section of this study.
106 List of Hybrid Cars – http://www.hybridcars.com/top-hybrid-cars-list.
107 Moteur Developpement International – http://www.mdi.lu.
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