Who would have thought?

(image from http://www.currentmarketing.com/undercurrent/index.php?s=gel)

Wow.
I actually thought this was a joke when I saw it. But it's real.
An air-powered car.
It's called the AirPod. I can already smell a future collaboration with Apple.

Here's a screencap from the MDI website:

No, it doesn't fly like the Jetsons' car, but who knows? These cute, alien-like little things might be the next great innovation for hybrid cars. They're debuting later this year in Europe, where SmartCars are already a common sight in cities. I'm not sure if even city-dwelling Americans would warm to a car that only goes 40mph, so as of now it might be equivalent to a scooter or moped, but if later versions of this car perhaps combine electric and air power, this might turn into a viable option for commuters.

Personally, I can't wait to see the day when I can buy an eco-friendly dually truck for my future horse trailer that I can fill with air, like the cute little Airpod, instead of getting less than 14 miles to the gallon.

One thing I do wonder, though, is if Americans will ever, as a whole, drive less. I know that when gas prices were really high, it was hard to avoid driving, just because of the distance from my house to school and work, and I think that's true of a lot of Americans. We're much more of a commuter culture, and in general we rely on technology so much more than Europeans, it seems. However, we might want to take a hint from them--they've adopted the Smartcar much more quickly than we probably ever will in cities. It's much more worthwhile to really get behind technologies that are useful and beneficial to something more than yourself, rather than flipping out over the newest iPod every few months.