Japanese Run Your Car on Water Scam or Not?
There’s been a story making the rounds today about a Japanese car that can run on 100-percent water for fuel. Now since April Fools day has passed, so one has to wonder what is the purpose of this hoax?
There have been many claims before about cars that run on 100-percent water and nothing else. But, this is the most recent one that has picked up some credibility with the news media.
What makes this Japanese water car sound fishier than sushi is the claim that you fill it with water and somehow magically it creates electricity to power the electric motors of the vehicle. Most other 100-percent water car claims center around the use of an internal combustion engine.
For this to be a reality right now, the Genepax water car must have a bank of batteries or even ultracapacitors the size of the car itself to generate that much electricity to split the water to once again generate electricity to run the car. This defies logic in my book.
According to Reuters the claim is, “Once the water is poured into the tank at the back of the car, a generator breaks it down and uses it to create electrical power, TV Tokyo said.”
So, what magic generator is this? Why the flux capacitor of course.
Filed under: Technology
Here’s some further explanation that adds to the credibility of this claim.
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080613/153276/
I’m still not convinced however. From this explanation it sounds like the water is run through a fuel cell in reverse, which of course if possible, to create hydrogen. But, then what do you do with the hydrogen? You run it through a fuel cell to create electricity.
Perhaps this is a scam or perhaps there are just a bunch of holes and omissions in the explanation of how this works. Either way, there needs to be some third party validation that this does indeed work that hasn’t been provided yet.