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Batteries, as Robert Murray-Smith is fond of pointing out, don't necessarily have to follow the single copper-top electrochemical form that most people think of when they hear the term. Any means of storing energy qualifies as a battery, so why not swap out compressed air for lithium-ion? Both are capable of doing work, including the work necessary to motivate an automobile, correct? And compressed air won't degrade over time or cause any sort of pollution, right?
Or, at least, that's the thought behind a newspaper clipping that Frank Comstock  recently sent us. The clipping, which originally ran in the Philadelphia Press and dates to May 1897, foresaw a splendid future in which all the then-modern advances--artificial light, flight, horseless carriages--could be improved upon to extend modernity to every man, woman, and child. The relevant section:
Compressed air has long been known to be the best way, theoretically, to store force for use in transportation. There is no waste and no deterioration. The need is a cheap and efficient motor to apply compressed air to city transportation. If this can be done, first the trolley poles and all wires will come down, next the horseless, compressed air motor carriage will do all the work of city delivery.
"Have you heard of this before?" Frank asked, wondering what ever became of the compressed-air car. Indeed, we had, but we'd never taken the time to examine the history of compressed-air cars, so thank you for giving us reason to do so, Frank.
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Re: Ask a Hemmings Editor: What Ever Happened to Compressed Air Cars?
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