How Does a Water Powered Car Work?

Water as Fuel

In order for any liquid or solid matter to operate as a fuel, it must be combustible. Water is a non-combustible liquid. This is demonstrated in the common use of water to extinguish flame: without having the capacity to catch fire itself, the water smothers the flame and prevents it from obtaining the oxygen it needs in order to burn.

Oxygen itself does not burn because burning is the process of other molecules becoming oxidized, or joined with oxygen. When oxygen is bound to other molecules---as is the case in water-- those molecules also do not burn because essentially, they are already the result of burning hydrogen. Trying to use water as a fuel is therefore analogous to attempting to create a campfire by burning only ashes.

Hydrogen

The hydrogen atoms in water can still be burned as fuel if they are separated from the oxygen. Speculation on the possibility of water as a fuel is therefore centered around the idea of creating an engine that does this before burning the hydrogen as fuel. However, the problem with this is that the separation of these atoms requires a reversing of the energy process that created the water in the first place, and this reversing requires an input of energy equal to the energy created by burning the hydrogen. Therefore, any system for converting water into burnable hydrogen requires exactly as much energy as it creates. In fact, if the system operates at less than 100 percent efficiency, it will actually require more energy than it is able to produce. This means that unless the principles of thermodynamics on which all modern energy science is based are fundamentally wrong, it is impossible for a car to run on water.

Fraud

To date, several inventors have claimed to have successfully invented a water-powered car, and most of these claims have been publicly debunked as fraudulent. One of the most recent companies to make such a claim is the Japanese company Genepax. Genepax claims that its car's engine is powered through separation of hydrogen molecules. When last checked, the company's English-language website had not been updated in nearly six months.

Hydroelectricity

The only scientifically possible way for a car to be powered by water is through hydroelectricity. Hydroelectricity is power generated from the mechanical force of falling water, rather than the burning of water as a fuel. When power generated by hydroelectric plants is used to charge batteries that run electric cars, this is the only way in which water can power an automobile.

Resources

• Burning Water and Other Myths