It is arguable that the "virtual"explosion (shock wave) in the Negre compressed air engine of the Tata operates gainfully to somehow cohere ZPE !
Robin has mentioned that the engine gets extra energy from ambient, which is almost the same thing, in one POV- but I think there is more than just additional ambient heat being used - and that this could be the first commercial instance of ZPE utilization. Time will tell, if the car really does ship next month. Reports are that the proper operation of the engine demands high enough air pressure to immediately phase-change the air first to liquid-air and then immediately back again in milliseconds. Without the advantage of a shock wave, the torque available would be minimal. On cold days, the car will not start without preheating the air, which indicates that the double phase-change has a narrow range. There is a small gasoline tank for this purpose in the European model, but not the one for India. And without the double phase-change, with a sequential timing that must be immediate (perhaps a few milliseconds at TDC of the engine cycle), there is probably no advantage to this complex system over simple expansion of a gas through a turbine - and it would not be marketable otherwise. After all, the energy content of the compressed gas "appears" to be WAAAAAY too small for the power produced (which is now apparently proved beyond any doubt to be available to the chagrin of experts). The excellent mileage, with a few dollars worth of grid power, is almost a modern day miracle, no? This double phase-change could be the entry point for ZPE or Casimir forces since it operates at a molecular geometry. However, it is probably a good thing that this is NOT mentioned yet or broadcast to the world, for any number of reasons. It may actually be too transformative and disruptive of a technology for the economic status-quo forces to deal with, if fully appreciated in certain boardrooms. Let the performance of the vehicle itself "do the talking" as the young company struggles for market share, but without unneeded hype about the end of the oil era. Tata is at the critical point where the trillion dollar "war chest" of OPEC could be silently focused to crush their nascent efforts. One suicide bomber now - and the entire effort is ... well... that would be a larger shock wave and then TaTa, Tata. Jones
