Motor Development International
{{short description|Is a French company designing compressed air car prototypes}}
{{ infobox company
| logo =
| image = MDI Air Pod (1).JPG
| genre = Car manufacturer
| foundation = Luxembourg
| founder = Guy Nègre
| location_city = Luxembourg
| location_country = Luxembourg
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| key_people = Guy Nègre, Cyril Nègre
| industry = Automobile industry
| products = Compressed air car
| services =
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| homepage = http://mdi.lu/
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}}
Motor Development International SA (MDI) is a Luxembourg-French based company designing products in both mobility and energy storage using a compressed air engine.
Development history
Established by Guy Nègre, the Luxembourg company MDI, with its administrative and production departments based in Carros in southeastern France, has developed an environmentally friendly car engine that uses compressed air to push the pistons of the engine and move the car.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}
Company history
2009-2011: According to MDI, were some fabrication and distribution licenses signed with companies in various countries including France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy,{{cite web|url=http://www.repubblica.it/motori/attualita/2012/06/07/news/arriva_l_auto_ad_aria-36653710/ |title=Ci siamo, arriva l'auto ad aria 7000 euro e 100 km con 1 euro|publisher=Repubblica.it |date=2012-06-07 |accessdate=2012-06-07}} New Zealand, Israel and South Africa.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} Zero Pollution Motors would like to make MDI vehicles in the United States.{{cite web|url=http://zeropollutionmotors.us |title=Zero Pollution Motors - Air Car |publisher=Zeropollutionmotors.us |date= |accessdate=2009-10-22}} MDI Andina S.A wanted to sell the car in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Panama.{{citation needed|date=January 2011}} The last one was CATECAR S.A in Switzerland which was about to start the first assembly line in the Bernese Jura, but the project is on hold (as so many others before) due to legal problems with MDI.[http://www.catecar.ch/en_index.html Catecar SA] AIRPod announcement. Retrieved 2010-10-28 Catecar purchased rights to produce and market MDI vehicles in Switzerland but MDI failed to produce the required technology.{{cite web|url=https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1062288_compressed-air-car-proponents-losing-faith|title=Compressed-Air Car Proponents Losing Faith|first=IEEE|last=Spectrum|website=Green Car Reports|accessdate=6 December 2018}} Catecar has now abandoned compressed air and has built prototype EVs.
MDI had also reached an agreement with Tata Motors, which was to produce and sell OneCAT cars in India. Tata Motors announced in May 2012 that they had assessed the design passing phase 1, the "proof of the technical concept" towards full production for the Indian market. Tata has moved onto phase 2, "completing detailed development of the compressed air engine into specific vehicle and stationary applications".{{cite web|url=https://newatlas.com/tata-motors-air-car-mdi/22447/|title=Tata Motors enters second phase of air-car development|website=newatlas.com|date=8 May 2012 |accessdate=6 December 2018}}{{cite web |url=http://www.tatamotors.com/media/press-releases.php?id=750 |title=Tata Motors :: Media :: Press Releases |accessdate=2013-04-22 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509064540/http://www.tatamotors.com/media/press-releases.php?id=750 |archivedate=2013-05-09 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.tatamotors.com/media/press-releases.php?id=281 |title=Media Centre "The agreement between Tata Motors and MDI envisages Tata's supporting further development and refinement of the technology, and its application and licensing for India." |publisher=Tata Motors |accessdate=2011-07-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929072549/http://www.tatamotors.com/media/press-releases.php?id=281 |archivedate=2011-09-29 }}
2012: After five years of testing and validation of the concept, MDI-designed engines were said to have been successfully integrated into Tata vehicles, and the air-powered "MiniCat" was promised to be on sale in India before the end of 2012.{{cite web|url=https://www.themotorreport.com.au/car-review/tata-mini-cat-air-powered-car-on-sale-from-mid-2012-75318.html|title=Tata Mini CAT Air-powered Car On Sale From Mid-2012|first=Mike|last=Stevens|date=28 February 2012|website=The Motor Report|accessdate=6 December 2018}} This was disputed in 2016 by MDI's CEO, Cyril Nègre, who said, "We never said that there will be any MiniCats in India. The deal we have is that Tata Motors has bought the exclusive licence of our Indian technology. But they’re going to produce their own car, not MDI cars — their own cars using our engines.”{{Cite web|url=https://greenfuture.io/transportation/air-powered-car|title=Driving On Air: How The Airpod Will Change Transportation And Carry A Father's Legacy|access-date=2016-07-15}}
2016: Guy Nègre passes away on June 24, 2016.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mdi.lu/#!actualites/id031|title=MDI SA - Ecologie, économie : l'air vous transporte|website=MDI SA - Ecologie, économie : l'air vous transporte|access-date=2016-07-15}} MDI was one of eight finalists in the competition for a grant from the United Nations' Powering The Future We Want program, but ultimately lost to SINTEF.{{Cite web|url=https://poweringthefuture.un.org/recipients/2016/mdisa|title=Powering The Future We Want 2016 Recipients|publisher=United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs|access-date=2017-08-08}}
2017: In February 2017 Dr. Tim Leverton, president and head at Advanced and Product Engineering at Tata revealed that it had completed the first phase of its project and the second stage was started a few years earlier. Tata was at a point of "starting industrialisation" with the first vehicles to be available by 2020.{{cite web|title=Tata Motors' air-powered car project still on, to be launch ready in 3 years|url=http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/tata-motors-air-powered-car-project-launch-23659|website=Auto Car Professional|accessdate=24 August 2017}} Other reports indicate Tata is also looking at reviving plans for a compressed air version of the Tata Nano,{{cite news|title=Tata Nano could spawn electric, hybrid & air-powered variants – Report|url=http://indianautosblog.com/2017/01/tata-nano-could-spawn-electric-hybrid-air-variants-256298|accessdate=23 August 2017|publisher=Indian Autos Blog|date=Jan 25, 2017}} which had previously been under consideration as part of their collaboration with MDI.{{cite news|title=Nano was to run on air, battery but Ratan Tata couldn't implement plans|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/ratan-tata-s-plan-to-turn-nano-around-wanted-car-to-run-on-air-battery/story-q7LIMmTS5eHCORFTvNhE1L.html|accessdate=23 August 2017|publisher=Hindustan Times|date=Oct 28, 2016}}
2020: No sign of Tata AirCar in production.
2023: All mention of Tata AirCar on their website has been removed.
See also
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- {{official website|https://www.mdi.lu/}}
Category:Engineering companies of Luxembourg