Environmental sustainability and renewable energy sources are significant concerns of the industries across the world. The vehicle and automotive industry is the most active industry in bringing forward more sustainable and environmentally-friendly vehicles.
Eco-friendly cars by Ford, Chevrolet, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Tesla, Toyota, etc., have been coming to market every now and then. However, some enthusiasts were working on manufacturing air-powered vehicles. The air-powered vehicles aim to rule out gasoline, petrol, and other fuel sources for powering vehicles.
In this article, we are going to talk about Zero Pollution Motors. It’s a startup by some enthusiasts who aimed to manufacture a car powered by air. They call their company Zero Pollution Motors and the founders made an appearance on the American business reality show Shark Tank to pitch the business to investors.
Were they able to impress the sharks? Did they have a deal with sharks? What happened at the Shark Tank? And many more questions like this come to mind.
We will discuss what happened to Zero Pollution Motors after Shark Tank and a lot more about the company & founders. So let’s get into it.
A Little About Shark Tank
Shark Tank is a business reality show aired on American TV where big investors are panelists or sharks. Different businesses pitch their ideas and businesses to the sharks for seeking investment, loans, or expertise. 13 seasons of Shark Tank America have been aired with over 1300 episodes.
The reality show was aired for the first time in America in 2009. It’s a franchise of Dragon’s Den, a reality show based in Japan that started under the name Money Tigers in 2001.
Many people think that every deal made on Shark Tank is actually executed. However, 20% of won deals are not actually executed after the detailed analysis and viability of the businesses. After the initial willingness of the Sharks, the due diligence, business analysis, and valuation are done. It’s done to see if the business is actually of the worth as claimed by the founders.
What Is Zero Pollution Motors?
The vision and mission of the business already lie in the name Zero Pollution Motors, LLC. The company aimed to be the manufacturer of air-powered cars, AirPods. According to the prototype, the car uses compressed air as fuel. The company possesses a US license to manufacture and sell this air-powered vehicle.
Zero Pollution Motors is based in Luxembourg, and they have a vision of creating regional facilities across the United States as an AirDrop manufacturer-dealer. The manufacturing cost of one Air Car is between $3700 to $5100. Whereas the company had been selling one unit at around $10,000.
Founder of Zero Pollution Motors
Pat Boone and Ethan Tucker are the founders of the company, and they founded Zero Pollution Motors in 2000. The innovation was carried out by these founders having a career in the entertainment industry. However, the experience of Ethan Tucker and Pat Boone in the automotive industry led them to enter this venture.
Background of Founders
Surprisingly, both Zero Pollution Motors’ founders had an entertainment industry background. Pat Boone was a musician, and Ethan Trucker had a career as a playwright, actor, and producer in the industry. When Ethan was writing a movie about Nikola Tesla, a leading technological innovator, the idea of developing AirPods popped into his mind. And the coworkers decided to venture into the business and manufacture the first car in the USA that is air-powered.
Business Idea Of Zero Pollution Motors
Zero Pollution Motors, LLC was initiated on the model of Dealer-Manufacturer-Partner. The focus of the founders was to acquire micro-production facilities to carry forward the manufacturing of air cars across the United States. As mentioned earlier, the business idea of Zero Pollution Motors is well-advertised by the name of the company.
They have been focused on developing facilities in different regions to make swift last-mile deliveries. They had the plan of manufacturing 80% of the vehicles and will sell them in the location. This focused strategy is implemented to reduce costs and overcome the logistics problems of traditional assemblies in the automotive industry. The purpose of the model was also to reduce the environmental impact.
How Does Zero Pollution Motor Work?
The founders of Zero Pollution Motors started the project to overcome the use of fossil fuels. The purpose of the AirDrops is to be used in urban settings, and these are three-wheeled vehicles. The compressed air is used to run the car. It also has no noise and pollution in these vehicles.
Zero Pollution Motors Work On Shark Tank
Zero Pollution Motors’ founders Ethan and Pat made an appearance on Shark Tank in episode 626. The episode was aired in season 6, episode 27. The founders had asked for a $5,000,000 investment against 50% stakes in their company. The purpose of the investment was to set up the first factory in Hawaii.
Everything about the duo’s appearance on the American business reality show is here.
Pitch
Sharks were very excited to see the unveiling of the Air Car. Since Ethan and Pat had an entertainment industry background, Robert recognized Ethan instantly. Both founders explained how the AirDrop vehicles work and how they are better than the electric cars. However, they didn’t bring the actual prototype of the car but just a picture of it.
The sharks were very enthusiastic to hear more and more about the vehicle, and the founders broke the car’s selling price, which was even more impressive. $10,000 for the three-wheeler was more than a shock for even the most skeptical Sharks.
According to the founders of the AirDrop, the car gives a mileage of 100 miles for a 4 hours charge. The founders also explained their business idea and how they plan to install micro-factories in different regions of the United States.
After they had pitched the idea to the sharks, the reaction and final verdicts by all sharks were as follows:
- Daymond didn’t invest in the business because he believed it was too early for the business to invest.
- Lori also likes the idea of an Air car, but she doesn’t want to become part of a non-domestic deal.
- Like Daymond and Lori, Kevin also didn’t invest in the business.
- Robert was the fourth shark. He wanted a test drive of this car, and he believed that the business would be the point of interest for the general public when it was in the market. Therefore, he made an offer to the founders. The offer was the original ask of the founders against the rights of the whole US market.
The founders happily accepted the offer, and they went from Shark Tank with a locked deal.
What Happened To Zero Pollution Motors After Shark Tank?
After making the deal on Shark Tank, the company continued to work on its business plan, and according to the website of Zero Pollution Motors, the company was launching its AirPod 2.0 by the mid-2019 in the US market. The interested buyers can choose from three available models having a seating capacity of 3 to 4 passengers. The interested people can reserve the car for themselves.
When the question of staying in business comes, Zero Pollution Motors doesn’t have any business as of end-2021. The company Zero Pollution Motors doesn’t exist anymore, but it is known as Air Car due to its eco-friendly air-powered car.
Unfortunately, the actual idea of AirPod couldn’t be realized despite 20 years having passed. Therefore, the original agreement of Rob Herjavec to invest 5 million dollars against 50% stakes couldn’t be honored.
According to the official website, the people interested in Air Cars and eco-friendly cars can still become part of the waitlist. However, it can be easily understood that the website is no more active.
Quick Facts
| Company Name | Zero Pollution Motors |
| Founder | Pat Boone and Ethan Tucker |
| CEO | Ethan Tucker |
| Industry | Automotive Industry |
| Target Audience | Environment-conscious drivers |
| Vision Of Business | Air-powered vehicle |
| Net Worth | $10 million |
| Season | Season 6 |
| Episode | Episode 27 |
| Ask By Founder | $5,000,000 for 5% |
| Final Deal | $5,000,000 for rights in the USA |
Final Words
We have shared everything about Zero Pollution Motors and how the original signature product of the company could never become a reality. The story is a prime example of no matter how good or revolutionary a business idea be, it can still fail. And every agreement made on Shark Tank doesn’t guarantee the success of the businesses or investors.