A water-fueled car is a type of vehicle that is said to use energy from water as its main power source. Many patents, articles in newspapers and science magazines, television reports, and websites have discussed these cars. However, scientists have found that the claims about these vehicles are not based on real science and some were connected to scams that trick people into investing money. Some cars are said to create fuel from water without needing any other energy source, while others use water along with traditional fuel like gasoline. According to the laws of physics, it is impossible to get energy from water by itself.
Extracting energy from water
According to the laws of physics, it is not possible to get energy from water alone. Water is very stable because it has strong chemical bonds. It takes a lot of energy to break these bonds and separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. No other compounds made of hydrogen and oxygen have more negative enthalpy values, so no extra energy is released in this way.
Many proposed water-powered cars use a process called electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, then combine them again to create energy. However, the first law of thermodynamics says that the energy needed to split the water equals the energy released, so no net energy is gained. The second law of thermodynamics adds that some energy is always lost as heat during this process, making it even less efficient.
Claims of functioning water-fuelled cars
In 1935, Charles H. Garrett was said to have demonstrated a car that supposedly ran on water for several minutes. This event was reported in The Dallas Morning News on September 8, 1935. Garrett’s patent from the same year describes a method to generate hydrogen through electrolysis. The patent includes drawings of a carburetor similar to a standard float-type carburetor, but with electrolysis plates at the bottom. The float in the design was used to keep the water level steady. However, the patent does not mention a new energy source.
In 1973, Malcolm Vincent of Nelson, New Zealand, appeared in a four-minute newsreel claiming to have built an engine powered by water. He attached a prototype to a car and said he had driven hundreds of miles at speeds up to 60 miles per hour. Vincent explained that the engine used a hydraulic principle and an electric starter to provide initial power.
As early as 1980, Stanley Meyer claimed he had built a dune buggy that ran on water. He gave different explanations for how it worked, sometimes saying he replaced spark plugs with a "water splitter" and other times claiming it used a "fuel cell" to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Meyer said the fuel cell used electrical resonance to split water into gases, which were then burned in a traditional engine to produce energy. However, his claims were never proven, and in 1996, an Ohio court found him guilty of fraud. Meyer died in 1998 from an aneurysm, though some people believe he was poisoned.
In 2002, the company Hydrogen Technology Applications patented an electrolyser design and trademarked the term "Aquygen" for the hydrogen-oxygen gas mixture it produced. The device was originally developed as an alternative to oxyacetylene welding. The company claimed it could run a vehicle on water alone using "Aquygen" and referenced unproven ideas like "magnegases" and "magnecules" to explain its results. The company’s founder, Dennis Klein, said he was negotiating with a major US car manufacturer and that the US government was interested in using his technology for Hummers. However, the company no longer claims it can power cars solely on water and now markets "Aquygen" as a way to improve fuel efficiency.
Also in 2002, Genesis World Energy announced a device that claimed to extract energy from water by separating hydrogen and oxygen and recombining them. In 2003, the company said the technology could power cars. It collected over $2.5 million from investors, but no devices were ever sold. In 2006, the company’s owner, Patrick Kelly, was sentenced to five years in prison for theft and ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution.
In June 2008, the Japanese company Genepax claimed to have built a car that ran on water and air. News outlets called it a "water-fuel car." The company said it could not yet reveal the full details of the invention but mentioned it used a "membrane electrode assembly" to extract hydrogen from water using a method similar to reactions involving metal hydride and water. The hydrogen was then used to power the car. However, scientists suggested the metal hydride might be the real energy source, making the car a "hydrogen on demand" vehicle rather than a water-fueled one. The company’s website only described the energy source as "chemical reaction." A science magazine called the claims "rubbish." The car Genepax demonstrated in 2008 was actually an electric car called the REVAi, later sold as the G-Wiz in the UK.
In early 2009, Genepax closed its website, citing high development costs.
In 2008, Sri Lankan news sources reported that Thushara Priyamal Edirisinghe claimed to drive a car using only 3 liters of water for 300 kilometers (190 miles). He showed the technology to the prime minister, who supported his efforts. However, Thushara was later arrested for suspected investment fraud.
Since 1969, Daniel Dingel of the Philippines has claimed to have developed technology to use water as fuel. In 2000, he partnered with Formosa Plastics Group to further develop the idea. In 2008, Formosa Plastics sued Dingel for fraud, and he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In December 2011, Ghulam Sarwar claimed to have invented a car that used 60% water and 40% diesel, aiming to eventually make it run on water alone. He said the car only emitted oxygen, not carbon.
In July 2012, Agha Waqar Ahmad of Pakistan claimed to have invented a water-fueled car using a "water kit" that included a jar, bubbler, and pipe connected to the engine. The kit used electrolysis to produce "HHO" gas for fuel and required distilled water. He claimed to generate more oxyhydrogen than others and applied for a patent in Pakistan. Some scientists said his invention violated the laws of thermodynamics and was a fraud.
In May 2022, Indonesian inventor Aryanto Misel claimed his invention, called Nikuba, could convert water into hydrogen for motorcycles, requiring only 1 liter of water for 500 kilometers. In July 2023, Aryanto said Italian car companies like Lamborghini, Ducati, and Ferrari were interested in Nikuba. He claimed he would sell the device for 15 billion rupiahs and said the Indonesian government had "destroyed" him. Scientists from Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency stated the device was impossible and said no Italian car companies were interested. Aryanto was invited by partners of the companies, not the companies themselves.
Hydrogen as a supplement
In addition to claims that cars can run only on water, some people say that mixing hydrogen or oxyhydrogen with petrol or diesel can improve a car's fuel efficiency and mileage. These ideas are not agreed upon by experts. Many websites sell plans for making oxyhydrogen gas, also known as "HHO," and offer kits for building devices called electrolysis machines. These websites promise major improvements in how much fuel a car can use. A representative from the American Automobile Association said, "These devices might seem helpful, but they do not actually work."
Gasoline pill and related additives
Claims connected to the water-fueled car hoax suggest that additives, such as a pill, can change water into usable fuel, similar to a carbide lamp, where a high-energy additive creates combustible fuel. These claims are false and often made with the goal of tricking people, as water cannot provide any energy for this process.
Hydrogen on demand technologies
A hydrogen on demand vehicle uses a chemical reaction to create hydrogen from water. The hydrogen is then burned in an engine or used in a fuel cell to make electricity that powers the vehicle. These designs use energy from chemicals that react with water; vehicles like these are allowed by the laws of nature. Aluminum, magnesium, and sodium borohydride are chemicals that react with water to make hydrogen and have been tested in hydrogen on demand prototypes. Over time, the chemical used in the reaction is used up and must be replaced. The energy needed to create these chemicals is more than the energy they produce when reacting with water.
One example of a hydrogen on demand device was developed by scientists from the University of Minnesota and the Weizmann Institute of Science. It uses boron to create hydrogen from water. An article in New Scientist in July 2006 described the power source with the headline "A fuel tank full of water." The article quotes Abu-Hamed as saying:
"The goal is to create hydrogen inside the car as fast as the engine needs it. We want to use boron to avoid the need to transport and store hydrogen."
A vehicle using this device would carry water and boron instead of gasoline and produce boron trioxide. Elemental boron is hard to make and does not naturally occur. Boron trioxide is a type of borate, which is the most common form of boron on Earth. Therefore, a vehicle powered by boron would need a cost-effective way to create elemental boron.
The chemical reactions that describe how boron reacts with oxygen are:
The balanced chemical equation for the overall process (hydrogen production and burning) is:
As shown, boron trioxide is the only substance left after the process. It could be removed from the car and reused to make boron again. Electricity is needed to complete this process, which Abu-Hamed suggests could come from solar panels. While it is possible to make elemental boron through electrolysis, this process uses a lot of energy. The process of turning borates into elemental boron and back could be compared to a similar process with carbon: carbon dioxide could be changed into charcoal (elemental carbon), then burned to make carbon dioxide again.
In popular culture
The term is mentioned in the first episode of the sitcom That '70s Show, as well as in the twenty-first episode of the fifth season and the final episode of the series.
The 2010 documentary film Gashole discusses the history of oil prices and the future of alternative energy. It includes stories about engines that use water to improve fuel efficiency.
An episode of The Lone Gunmen titled "Like Water for Octane" is based on a "water-powered" car that character Melvin Frohike claims he saw in 1962.
The 1994 television film The Water Engine, adapted from a play by David Mamet, follows the story of Charles Lang, who invents an engine that runs on water as fuel. The story focuses on the challenges Lang faces in obtaining a patent for his invention.
The 1996 action movie Chain Reaction is about a technology that converts water into fuel using a special kind of bubble fusion and electrolysis. The film also describes official attempts to stop this technology from being used.
A water-powered car appears in a 1997 episode of Team Knight Rider, a show based on the original Knight Rider series. The episode is titled "Oil and Water." In the story, the car explodes after a character sabotages it by adding seltzer tablets to the fuel tank. The car shown in the episode was actually a Bricklin SV-1.