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Green Energy Investing: Get in on the Air Car

Today's Financial News - Posted April 7, 2008

“You’ve probably heard about air cars. They’re idyllic. They travel 1,000 miles on one fill up and, using the force of compressed air to move the engine pistons, produce little to no emissions. They’re a green investor’s dream. But for years, a dream was all they were.” — Stephanie Grimmett

by Stephanie Grimmett

Baltimore – (TFN): First, let’s get something straight: I’m not advocating that you become a car manufacturer. And if this thing takes off, you won’t have to be. You’ll be able to buy stock when the company goes public just like the rest of us.

But if you really have to put your money into this idea, right now, building a manufacturing plant is the only way you’re going to get in.

You’ve probably heard about air cars. They’re idyllic. They travel 1,000 miles on one fill up and, using the force of compressed air to move the engine pistons, produce little to no emissions. They’re a green investor’s dream.

But for years, a dream was all they were. Guy Negre (an aeronautics and Formula One racecar engineer turned inventor.) has been working on a commercial version for more than 15 years. And the last I heard, his prototypes were little more than earth-friendly, adorable golf carts, with top speeds of 36 mph.

That’s not much to get excited about. But after fiddling with the engine for a few more years, Negre’s figured out how to make his Air Car run as fast as 100 mph (he had to add a heater, which brought the cars emissions up from “none” to “practically none.”) The Air Car seats six. And his company MDI Inc. will have consumer versions ready for delivery in the U.S. as early as 2010.

Negre and son Cyril, an engineer with the high-performance car manufacturer Bugatti, are looking to build as many as 60 plants for their Air Cars in the U.S. And they want venture capitalists (or bored retired car company executives) to invest in a plant, as in build it and manufacture Air Cars under a license agreement with MDI.

Negre isn’t planning to sell the cars to dealerships. He’s cutting out that middle man (that won’t make retired NFL football stars very happy, I’m sure, but since when do John Elway’s dealerships include French-designed cars, anyway.). And if you did jump into the venture, you’d have the joy of marketing the Air Cars yourself. Considering the viral effect of this information inside our office, though, I’d say you won’t have a problem getting customers, especially if you sell them for Negre’s recommended price of $18,000 – $20,000.

That’s about $3,000 less than the cost of a Prius, and an Air Car driver’s eco-friendly bragging rights trump those of any hybrid owner’s (don’t even try to tell me that self-satisfied snobbery isn’t a factor in the green movement.).

Besides, an Air Car driver will only spend about $5 (in Maryland electricity, at least) every time he “fills up.” The car’s compression tank refills using electricity and takes 1-2 hours. That’s going to sway not only the earth-friendly hippies, but also the penny pinchers among us.

If you’re willing to take on the grief of running a plant, the company’s Web site includes information for those interesting in producing and selling the cars. And you can check out Air Car’s Investor section to find it. But perhaps, as a cautionary tale, this is the proper time to bring up an often-overlooked Johnny Cash song called One Piece at a Time… I hope none of your employees are as industrious as Johnny.

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