• Peugeot Citroen invents technology for air car ready for the market by 2016
• 'Hybrid Air' engine system runs on petrol and air, instead of electricity
• Company predicts 'Hybrid Air' to achieve 117 miles per gallon by 2020
  

By Ruth Sunderland

PUBLISHED: 14:58 EST, 22 January 2013 | UPDATED: 14:58 EST, 22 January 2013

Many motorists must have dreamed of a car that runs on fresh air as the bill at the petrol pump climbs ever-higher.

Now French car giant PSA Peugeot Citroen has invented new technology that it claims will put one on the road by 2016.

Its scientists say it will knock 45 per cent off fuel bills for an average motorist, and when driving in towns and cities costs could be slashed by as much as 80 per cent, as the car will be running solely on air for four-fifths of the time.

Hybrid Air: Peugeot Citroën PSA has unveiled a new car that uses compressed air instead of electricity to play second fiddle to petrol

The system works by using a normal internal combustion engine, special hydraulics and an adapted gearbox along with compressed air cylinders that store and release energy.

This enables it to run on petrol or air, or a combination of the two.

Air power would be used solely for city use, automatically activated below 43mph and available for ‘60 to 80 per cent of the time in city driving’.

This is because the air compression system can re-use all the energy that is normally lost when continually slowing down and braking in urban environment,

By 2020 air-powered cars could be achieving around 117 miles per gallon, the company predicts.

Saving the planet: The Hybrid Air technology could allow a car the size of a Citroën C3 or Peugeot 208 to emit as little as 69g/km of CO2

Cutting costs: A look inside the 'air engine' which could cut 45 per cent off the petrol bill for the average driver

The revolutionary new ‘Hybrid Air’ engine system - the first ever to combine petrol with compressed air  - is a breakthrough for hybrid cars because expensive batteries will no longer be needed.

Cars fitted with Hybrid Air will be around £1,000 cheaper to buy than current hybrid models.

More than 100 elite scientists and engineers have been working for two and a half years in top secret conditions on the air-powered car at Peugeot’s research and development nerve centre at Velizy, just north of Paris.

‘Hybrid Air’ is the centrepiece of Peugeot chief executive Philippe Varin’s efforts to restore the fortunes of the historic Gallic carmaker.

The revolutionary system will be able to be installed on any normal family car without altering its external shape or size or reducing the boot size, provided the spare wheel is not stored there.

From the outside, an air-powered car will look identical to a conventional vehicle.

‘We are not talking about weird and whacky machines’ said a spokesman. ‘These are going to be in everyday cars.’

Peugeot, which unveiled its prototype yesterday, envisages introducing it in smaller models such as the Peugeot208 at first.

The company said that as well as being greener and cheaper to run, the air system creates no extra dangers in a collision.

Motorists never run the risk of running out of compressed air late at night on a deserted country road because the car will be fitted with a sophisticated artificial brain that ensures it replenishes itself automatically.

The air compresses and decompresses of its own accord as the car speeds up and slows down.

As well as the revolutionary air car, Peugeot also unveiled plans for new larger cars such as the 405 and the Citroen C5 that will save 20per cent on fuel bill through the use of new materials such as ligjhtweight steel and aluminuim composites.

They will also deploy other innovations such as electric power steering instead of hydraulic and new tyres with reduced drag.

Lift-off: The air power will be automatically activated below 43mph and can be used for up to 80 per cent of driving time in urban areas

These will be introduced from this year. The first cars to feature them will be the replacement for the Citroen C4 Picasso produced at the company’s plant in Vigo  Spain and the replacement for the 308 built at Sochaux in France.

The audience gasped as the covers were removed from the prototypes at a packed ceremony attended by French politicians and business leaders.

The innovations are crucial to chairman Philippe Varin’s efforts to revamp the ailing automaker that has suffered badly due to the crisis in southern euroean markets including Italy, Portugal and Spain that account for a large chunk of its sales.

The economy in its home market of France has also been hard hit in the single currency crisis. It has lost its triple-A credit rating and socialist President Francois Hollande has earned international ridicule through his plans for a supertax on the wealthy.

The Peugeot company was founded in 1810 and the family still has a controlling stake. Thierry Peugeot drafted in Varin - widely hailed in the UK for rescuing Corus, the former British Steel, from the brink of ruin - in 2009.

Varin’s attempts to revive the marque have been hit by the euro meltdown and militant French unions.

Worldwide sales for 2012 were down 8.8per cent to 2.82m.

The company has been hindered in efforts to improbve its performance by France’s rigid labour laws. It has also been plagued by violent industrial action at its Aulnay plant near Paris which is due to close next year with the loss of thousands of jobs.

It is embroiled in controversy with rival European car makers over a French state guarantee given to its financing arm last year.

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