The world was surprised in 2011 when Toyota launched a new air-powered car. This revolutionary car called Ku was to revolutionize the automobile market by doing away with the requirement of fuel or electricity. However, despite the optimism associated with this change, it was short-lived and faded from the market. The question in this context is, what led to this remarkable invention being forgotten?
The creation of Toyota’s air-powered Ku was groundbreaking, but what went wrong?
The Ku was no ordinary vehicle. The car was a three-wheeled compressed air-powered eco-car designed by Toyota Industries Corporation. This car was designed by a team of engineers named “Yume no Kuruma Kobo,” which translates to “Dream Car Factory,” they worked on this car as a hobby.
The Ku set a record on September 9, 2011, when they recorded a speed of 129.2 km/h, or approximately 80 mph, at a test course in Japan. The car’s unique engine relies on compressed air stored in a tank, and the motor is similar to a steam engine. It expanded the air, forcing the vehicle’s pistons to move and propel it.
The Ku was an excellent example of how aerodynamically efficient the car could be while being environmentally sound. However, the idea was never developed further than a model, and before long, the world had lost sight of this revolutionary air-powered car.
Why did Toyota’s air-powered car fail to make it into mass production?
The Ku was a concept built to demonstrate the feasibility of the design and not a vehicle that could be produced for the market. It could only go as far as a mere 3.2 kilometers or 1.25 miles before it is emptied of its compressed air. This short range and the fact that refilling the air tanks needed a compressor made it a tool for occasional use.
Toyota did not go for mass production; the car was just a project. It also emerged that although air-powered technology had potential, it could not match other technologies being developed at the time, such as electric and hybrid vehicles.
Besides these technical issues, some practical concerns hampered the Ku’s effective functioning, including the system’s low energy density. Compressed air could not store as much energy as batteries or conventional fuels. Therefore, the prospect of moving the technology to street-legal cars would always be small.
Hybrid systems may offer a solution to air-powered technology’s shortcomings
It is interesting to note that as the world may have forgotten the Ku, air-powered propulsion is still alive somewhere. Instead of developing fully air-powered cars, Toyota and other researchers have moved to the next level of having compressed air systems to work with hybrid engines. Such systems could capture and store energy during braking and increase the overall fuel economy without using large and expensive batteries.
A Swedish research team improved fuel economy by 60 percent using compressed air technology in a hybrid engine. This approach avoids some pitfalls that led the Ku to fail as a stand-alone vehicle. With the addition of air power to the other internal combustion engines, it is perhaps possible to increase fuel efficiency and decrease emissions while avoiding the complete dependence on electricity.
The Ku remains a forgotten, but vital, stepping stone for the future of eco-friendly cars
The car that Toyota made using air power was a sampling of what the future of mobility could be like. While it may not have become a car for the masses, the Ku did much to advance the possibilities of what could be done in automobile design. It changed the paradigm of mobility and, at the same time, provoked new approaches to attaining energy effectiveness.
Finally, people stopped caring about the Ku because it was not advanced enough to compete with other more viable and feasible applications. But as we turn our attention to the future of cars, with increasing numbers of hybrids and electric vehicles, one must not forget such inventions as the Ku.
Although Toyota may not have pursued the air-powered car, the concepts it experimented with persist as a part of the changing dynamics of environmentally friendly automobiles. Looking at the race to build cleaner, more efficient cars, the Ku is a good reminder that some of the most innovative ideas must wait for their time.
