KEY POINTS:
A revolutionary new vehicle powered by compressed air will be available in New Zealand before the end of the year.
Makers of the futuristic-looking Airpodsay it can reach 70km/h and travel 100km at a cost of less than $2, and will save energy and help the environment.
But a local vehicle expert has doubts about the benefits being claimed for the vehicle.
New Zealand company IndraNet Technologies has done a deal with the car's European manufacturer, MDI, to market it here. It plans to lease the vehicles, rather than sell them.
"The Airpod is great fun - there is no steering wheel and you run it with a joy stick," said IndraNet managing director Dr Louis Arnoux, who was in France for the vehicle's unveiling yesterday.
The Airpod has two tiny compressed air-powered engines, one for each of the rear wheels.
The driver steers the Airpod by controlling the flow of air from each engine.
The editor of the New Zealand car-buying reference manual The Dog and Lemon Guide, Clive Matthew-Wilson, said it was important to remember that the Airpod was ultimately not powered by air, but by whatever form of energy was used to compress the air.
"It doesn't solve the energy crisis by changing the way the energy is used," he said.
"It's a slightly more efficient way of wasting energy on inefficient trips.
"All you are doing is replacing traffic jams full of petrol-driven cars with traffic jams full of air-driven cars."
Mr Matthew-Wilson also doubted the Airpod's fuel economy.
"One of the reasons these cars are so efficient is not because they are powered by air, but because they are small and light."
