The Dutch Government is aiming high and wants 1 million CO² free cars on the road before 2020. The question is whether the solution which is presented us today, the full-electric car equipped with expensive and heavy batteries, the right solution is to reach this goal. If we want 15% of the Dutch car drivers to switch to an electric car, at least this should be an affordable and practical alternative to a petrol car. It is no secret that the full electric, despite a number of good properties, still is not the ideal solution.

We will therefore have to become much more creative, if we want to reach this goal of 1 million cars. A solution that does not depend on billions of investments in infrastructure and in expensive and complex loading stations. A solution that does not require additional power plants. A solution for which we can produce locally the fuel ourselves so switching to this new car would be very attractive, and would be taken for granted. A solution with just one important goal. A clean car, affordable for many people!

Switch2Air would like to tickle everyone in the car industry, and challenge them to look further. The ideas on this site come from existing products and techniques. The question is not whether this is the most efficient solution. The question is: can we combine these techniques together into an acceptable, and affordable car. And perhaps that is the compressed-air/electric hybrid car or EAV. The electric car that is mainly powered by a compressed air generator for driving distance, coupled to a small backup battery for acceleration and city traffic.

Switch2air thinks that there is enough expertise on the technical universities and schools specialized in car techniques. These are not necessarily solutions how it should work, but how it could work. It is up to you to make it work. Be creative, and let’s see if we can come up with a better solution than the full electric car! Get inspired by companies such as Pininfarina, Engine air and MDI. Look back on the success of the Volkswagen Beetle, the Mini, the Citroën 2CV, and the Fiat Panda. Just go for it!