Noise and pollution are a usual headache with fossil-fuel-powered automobiles. Although electric vehicles are quite on the rise these days, the limited mileage on the battery and short life span has been a turn-off for many automobile lovers out there.
As a solution to it, two innovative entrepreneurs pitched their idea of air-powered automobiles on Shark Tank. Noiseless, pollution-less, and power-efficient air-based cars got the sharks intrigued in the show. But this eco-friendly Zero Pollution Motors, Air Cars, land a deal on Shark Tank? Is it operational? And what’s the net worth of Zero Pollution Motor in 2024 after Shark Tank?
Let’s find out.
Zero Pollution Motors is a company with the goal of developing and manufacturing cars with zero pollution. These cars, also known as AirPods, run on compressed air.
The eco-friendliness of Air Car and its use of renewable energy are the facts that draw attention. A license from the government allows the company to manufacture and sell these air cars in the United States.
There are three types of Air Cars to choose from: AirPod Baby, AirPod Standard, and AirPod Cargo. In each one, there are a different number of seats and storage compartments.
City and urban environments are heavily polluted by noise and air pollution, which these cars would be used for.
For easy access to the US market, the company plans on dividing into several micro-factories for manufacturing and selling aircars.
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Ethan Tucker and Pat Boone are the founders of Zero Pollution Motors, popularly known as Air Cars. The pair, who were former colleagues in the entertainment industry, founded the company in 2000. Despite having acquainted in the entertainment industry, they claimed to have gathered two decades of experience in the motor industry.
Before launching the business, Pat Boone was working as a singer whereas Ethan Tucker was doing a job as a producer and playwright. In addition to his work as an entertainment executive, Ethan mentors aspiring digital entrepreneurs.
Pat and Ethan’s mutual interest in automobiles brought them together and eventually they started their own innovative automobile company.
Air Car was founded with the aim of reducing the use of non-renewable fuels for powering vehicles and reducing environmental impact.
And in order to do that, they claimed to use compressed air to power the engine. This way, the Air Car will not just be able pollution-free but also noiseless. So they suggested it would be ideal in urban areas and crowded cities.
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Pat Boone and Ethan Tucker acquired the rights to manufacture AirPods in Hawaii before appearing on Shark Tank. To help save the environment in big cities, Ethan and Boone were motivated to develop eco-friendly vehicles that produce clean, low-pollution automobiles.
Moreover, they wanted to contribute to reducing carbon emissions from cars.
During his time living in Vermont, Ethan was asked to write a movie about Nikola Tesla, a renowned innovator. And he was quite inspired from him.
Despite Zero Pollution Motors’ new status, AIRPOD, their first automobile, has been on the market since 2000. AIRPod was viewed by Tucker as an innovation that would create a big market. As a result, he became interested in cutting-edge green technologies. And that’s how he decided to get involved in.
Prior to their appearance on Shark Tank, Ethan Tucker and Pat Boone had already been granted permission to manufacture AirPods in Hawaii.
Despite winning certification in 2010, the environment-friendly car founders encountered the same problems as with their previous innovations.
As a result of pauses in production, Tucker claims that some investors failed to meet their part of the bargain, thus causing delays.
As Ethan and Pat entered the podium, Robert recognized them. During his pitch, Ethan requests $5 million for 50% ownership in his Zero Pollution Motors.
His new pollutant-free automobile entertained the five shark investors. As well as describing its functionalities, Ethan and Boone explain why the aircar is better than a battery-powered car.
Due to a lack of prototypes, they pitched their aircar with a snapshot.
Additionally, they explain how they will personalize each car for each geographical area in order to satisfy each client’s needs. They want to build a manufacturing factory in Hawaii, they have a relationship with MDI, and they want to build a factory in Hawaii for a long time.
In addition, the founders claimed that the aircar can cover 100 miles in four hours. For the aircar project, the two entrepreneurs told the sharks they needed $5 million to launch and that the three-wheeler would sell for $10,000.
Daymond John called the Airpod a “wheel lunchbox” and considered it too early to invest in such an idea. He was the first to walk out. This idea was also off the table for Mark Cuban, who blatantly stated he was not ready to invest.
Likewise, Mr. Wonderful Kevin O’Leary deemed it an inadequate business plan and kept himself out. Despite Lori Greiner’s interest, she said she’s more into domestic deals. So following the suit, she too declined to invest in AirPods.
It was unsurprising that Robert Herjavec took a great deal of interest in this vision. Moreover, he shared his wish to try out and test drive the AirPods.
Robert decided to invest $5 million in Zero Pollution Motors in exchange for full rights to the US market. With a deal in hand, both entrepreneurs leave the shark tank at the end.
| Company Name | Zero Pollution Motor (Air Car) |
| Website | zeropollutionmotors.us |
| Episode | Season 6 Episode 26 |
| Product Offering | Eco-Friendly Cars run by Compressed Air |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Founder | Pat Boone and Ethan Tucker |
| Required Investment | $5,000,000 For 50% equity in Zero Pollution Motors |
| Closing Deal | $5,000,000 For 50% equity in Zero Pollution Motors |
| Shark | Robert Herjavec |
| Current Business Status | Out of business |
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After the Shark Tank deal, the entrepreneurs worked on their AirPod business plan. In addition, Zero Pollution Motors’ official website stated that the company will introduce AirPod 2.0 to US consumers by mid-2019.
The Zero Pollution Motors aka Air Cars was slated to launch in three different versions, each with a seating capacity for three or four travelers. And interested customers could prebook the automobile in advance.
But things did not go well for Zero Pollution Motors as anticipated. The company went out of business at the end of 2021. Although Zero Pollution Motors no longer exists, its air-powered automobile project, known as the Air Car, is still up and running.
Despite 20 years of development, the AirPod’s original concept never really came to fruition. Consequently, Robert was unable to complete his original agreement to spend $5 million for 50% ownership of the company.
It appears that there is still room on the waitlist for people interested in aircars and eco-friendly cars, according to the company’s official website. But as of now, the website is no longer operational.
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In accordance with the records, Robert’s arrangement did not involve any legal considerations. To begin with, the founders did not own AirPods. Their growth options were limited because they were merely the sole distributors. Therefore, it proved impossible to obtain American market rights.
As a result of Robert dropping out of the arrangement, Zero Pollution Motors has been unable to produce the first AirPod. Even though they promised to release one in France in the first quarter of 2019, this is their current situation.
Despite conceiving the concept of air cars two decades ago, the idea is yet to come to fruition. The founders are yet determined to turn the project into a reality. So on their website, they are still accepting orders. And the queue is open to anybody.
The last time they updated their Facebook accounts was in 2018 when they announced they would deliver the first batch of pre-ordered AirPods in the first quarter of 2019. But that did not happen. It was still accepting pre-orders on its website until March 2022.
Based on the reports, Zero Pollution Motors is no longer operating. There was a cancellation of production. But if you are interested, you can visit their website to sign up for updates on the AirPod waitlist and get on their mailing list.
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Yes. The Zero Pollution Motors aka Air Cars got a deal on Shark Tank. They got a $5 million deal from Robert Herjavec in exchange for 50% equity in the company.
When Zero Pollution Motors appeared on Shark Tank, its valuation was $10 million. But the idea did not pan out as planned. Because of it, the shark who agreed to fund the project, Robert Herjavec, walked out of the project. Currently, there does not seem much of an operation on the project and Zero Pollution Motors’ net worth in 2024 is yet to be known.
Zero Pollution Motors is currently out of business. However, they are still taking pre-orders for the Air Cars via their website.
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