Autocrat Manufacturing Company

The Autocrat Manufacturing Company is a former company in the United States . It was founded in Hartford , Connecticut in 1899 to develop an automobile powered by compressed air .

description

According to a press release from the manufacturer, the drive worked by means of three compressed air cylinders housed in a storage space under the vehicle floor. The first contained air at atmospheric pressure which was delivered to the second cylinder. Here the pressure was increased to 700 pounds / in² (approx. 68 bar) and thus directed into the third cylinder. In this the pressure of the compressed air was increased to up to 3000 pounds / in² (approx. 207 bar). The air had to be topped up at a special charging station. If the connections required for this were laid, the refueling process itself should only take three seconds.

The tests with a prototype were disappointing. The top speed achieved was completely inadequate at 10 mph (16 km / h). The company also stated a range per filling of only 40 to 50 miles (about 65 to 80 kilometers), which was further reduced because a planned, central refueling station in Hartford would have had to be approached.

There seems to have been no other vehicles besides this one prototype. However, other US manufacturers such as MacKenzie & McArthur in New Haven ( Connecticut ) or the American Vehicle Company in West Virginia have also dealt with their American Pneumatic with the compressed air vehicle . Pneumatic vehicles from the brands Automatic Air , Carrol , Meyers , Muir and Pneumatic were also not marketed

literature

• Beverly Rae Kimes (Editor) and Henry Austin Clark, Jr. The Standard Catalog of American Cars. 2nd edition, Krause Publications, Iola WI 1985, ISBN 0-87341-111-0 , pp. 81 and 1542.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Kimes: Standard Catalog, 1985 .; P. 875
2. ^ Kimes: Standard Catalog, 1985 .; P. 42
3. ^ Kimes: Standard Catalog, 1985 .; P. 929
4. ^ Kimes: Standard Catalog, 1985 .; P. 967
5. ^ Kimes: Standard Catalog, 1985 .; P. 1173