MDI, a European company founded in 1991, has developed technology that could theoretically power a car by compressed air. New York-based Zero Pollution Motors is licensing the technology for the first time to build and sell a car in the United States, CNN reports, pledging to deliver the first models in 2010 at a price tag of less than $18,000—and with a claimed average fuel economy of 106 mpg.

Shiva Vencat, vice president of MDI and CEO of Zero Pollution Motors, said in the report that the concept is similar to how a locomotive works, except that compressed air moves the engine's pistons instead of steam. Adding to the claim's dubious quotient, Vencat said the car will seat six, reach speeds of 90 mph and last 800 miles due to the car's "dual energy" engine, which is Zero Pollution Motors-speak for an engine that can run on either fuel or compressed air. It will run on compressed air at speeds below 35 mph, Vencat said, which kind of makes it like an airy Prius.

"It is possible to power a car with compressed air, but the mileage claim is at the edge of possibility," said John Callister, director of the Harvey Kinzelberg Entrepreneurship in Engineering program at Cornell University's College of Engineering, in the report. "No one's really proven a six-seater passenger car [can get] any better than 75 miles to the gallon. So this would represent a big step forward... They would have to prove that before they can throw rocks at the Prius." The car will compete for next year's Automotive X Prize.