Why are water-powered cars still not in the market?

Question

water-powered cars have been invented for some time now but why are they still not in the market? i saw it featured in one local tv show and although it's not really perfect yet, i believe there will be a wide market for it. do the oil cartels have something to do with that?

Answer 1

No matter what anybody tells you, water will not burn and thus its not a fuel.  It can be processed into hydrogen fuel and oxygen oxidizer, but that procedure requires a different fuel to be burned in the first place.

Answer 2

Just for the sake of argument let's say that in opposition to all the science out there you can actually power a car with water and make a perpetual motion machine. Where does all this water come from? There is lots of salt water in the oceans but that is not the water on the TV showing a car running on H2O. Getting the salt out is another expensive process. In China there is a clean water shortage already because of industrial waste which is further polluted by human waste. Think you can run an engine on that? The same is happening in India, Africa, and parts of South America. We as a planet do not have a bounty of fresh water.

Have we forgotten our high school history so soon? Most wars were fought over water rights. Water is more precious than oil. Drinking bottled water is more costly than gasoline. Why would we power a car with something more expensive and dearer than gasoline?

Answer 3

Water is just a generalised name for the fuel, you cant just buy a hose and stick it into the tank to fill her up because there are different types of water, and you need that specific type to fill her up (like duterium)  and to produce that you need to pump it full of electrons to meet the fuels specifications costing allot of money.

Answer 4

There is no such thing as a water powered car. Your statement that they have been invented for some time now is not true. There is no chemical energy in water, so it cannot be used as an energy source in any kind of engine.

If you are talking about hydrogen powered cars, then the main problem is making the hydrogen. Hydrogen can be made from water, but only by using more energy that you get by using that hydrogen as a fuel an in engine.

I have seen the video of a guy who says he can power his car with water by using a regular car battery to release hydrogen gas from water and then use that hydrogen to make his engine run. He demonstrates it, getting the engine to run for one or two seconds. Well, two seconds of fuel is no use at all. To make 10 minutes of fuel would take many car batteries, and to make hours of fuel would take more car batteries than a car can carry. The idea that one small battery can make enough hydrogen gas to run a car as long as a full tank of gasoline could is just not true. That is why it has never been done. If it could be done, then you could just skip the hydrogen making part and just have a regular battery powered electric car.

So just remember, to make enough hydrogen gas fast enough to run a 100 horsepower engine, you need 100 horse power of battery power (more actually, because the process is not 100% efficient), and one small battery cannot make that much power.

Answer 5

GM has one. Just one and it's worth who knows?

Is it viable to market? If it were I would hope that GM would.

Get your hands on a Toyota and you'll never let go would have a new meaning......nobody would buy it from you....

Answer 6

Many years ago there were cars that used a form of water as one of the prerequisites for the creation of power the cars were called Stanley Steamers, the other (and real) fuel was wood or coal. I think most folks are losing sight of the fact that water is a main source of a composite that has to be broken down into different elements that in turn can be used as a fuel and they think hydrogen as one of the elements, so conversely water is not a fuel. There has to be additional energy to convert the water to hydrogen. This would render the concept mute.

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Answer 7

Most of these schemes start out as pump and dump schemes for penny stocks.

Essentially a water powered car runs on hydrogen separated form water.

At 100% efficiency it requires approximately 35 kilowatt hours of electricity to produce one kilogram of hydrogen (2.2 pounds) That amount of hydrogen has the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline.

Currently the best equipment on the market operates at 70% efficiency. So for all practical prposes it takes about 50 kilowatt hours of electricity to make the amount of hydrogen with an energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline.

This is true whether you make the hydrogen through electrolysis or through a substance that reduces the water to hydrogen and oxygen.

Answer 8

I really don't think there will be a high market for it. It's pretty much a glorified jet-ski and the fact is most people just can't afford to spend that much on something that is not a necessity (where as a car gets you to and from work). Cars are expensive to build and the cost goes down the more you build but I don't think the demand will be high enough to make production worth while.

Answer 9

Not another sucker falling for that old PERPETUAL MOTION scam.

It is a violation of the laws of physics .

If it were real, your exhaust would be water, you could pipe it back into the water tank and recycle it.

NO  it doesn't exist

It takes far more energy to break H2O down into hydrogen and oxygen than you get out of it when you burn it.

If the device could be 100 % efficient mechanically, you would still loose because of the inefficiency of electrolysis.

Answer 10

Maybe it's because it's easier to go by land vehicles than on water, but I would like an explanation on water-powered cars!

Answer 11

Because water powered cars are not for real!  If you meet anyone who tells you that they have a car that runs on water, keep your hand on your wallet.

The oil cartels have nothing to do with it, it's basic physics.  "Water cars" are typically advertised as being able to get hydrogen out of the water to run the car, then use the hydrogen to make the car go.  However it ALWAYS costs more energy to get hydrogen out of the water than the hydrogen is worth.

The reason for this is that when you use hydrogen to make energy, you oxidize the hydrogen and make water.  Think of it this way: you get a certain amount of energy for every ounce of hydrogen, and that ounce of hydrogen ends up as part of a certain amount of water.  If you could react water to make hydrogen, and then react the hydrogen to make water again and get more energy out of the process than you started with, you would have to end up with more water than you started with as well.  Then you could react that water to make MORE hydrogen than you started with - and then EVEN MORE water.

So, if you could make a water-powered car like this that worked, the side effects would be that you would also be able to make an infinite amount of hydrogen and an infinite amount of water, for free.  Can this be done?  No.  There is no water-powered car, your local TV show was fooled, and you were smart to ask about this so that you won't be fooled as well.

Answer 12

because water powered cars are impossible

They are a farce.

people who believe in water powered cars need new lead liners in their tin hats.

Answer 13

Bebe.

You have to turn Water into Hydrogen and there are a couple of good answers already on the cost of doing this.

There is a simple experiment here

http://www.nmsea.org/Curriculum/7_12/ele...

Answer 14

because the price of a gallon of water would be $10.00

and there would be a water shortage or something

Answer 15

No the oil people is laughing at how stupid it is. It would not be a water/ hydrogen car  as it would require u to pull a generator behind your car to convert the water into hydrogen.

Answer 16

There was a recent news item about a researcher at Purdue University (GO, BOILERS!!!) who has discovered a seemingly inexpensive and simple method to extract the hydrogen from the water utilizing an aluminum alloy.  The name of the alloy eludes me now, but you can Google it.  

So, the pieces for a water-powered car MAY be coming together, but it may take another decade to get them all in order.  Who knows?  

Like the other guy said earlier, keep you hand on your wallet should you ever hear someone who says that he has an answer.

Answer 17

I'd like to know the answer to this question as well, though I've heard rumours.  Is it only a politically economic reason, or are there scientific difficulties in presenting eco-friendly modes of travel?  Or is this just a social problem?

Answer 18

The closest we'll ever be to using water for fuel is if we successfully develop the technology for hydrogen fusion (note:  I am not referring to fuel cell technology!).  I doubt I'll live to see it in the 45 or so years I have left, but I can hope.

Answer 19

There are no water powered cars.  You claim that they have been invented for some time now.  Would you care to actually provide some documented support for this claim?  A patent or two would be excellent (just give me the patent number, I can search it).  If you cannot provide this back-up, kindly stop making such claims.

Answer 20

No kidding there would be a wide market for it!

Water is not a fuel.

You have to manufacture hydrogen from water by using huge amounts of electricity. The things that you see on local TV are shams. Go back to science class.

Answer 21

Because it isn't efficient.  There are basically 2 ways to derive energy from water.  The most common is to use electrolysis and generate hydrogen/oxygen.  But, an electrolysis process that would generate enough hydrogen fast enough to run a car would be too bulky.  It's far better to generate hydrogen elsewhere (in bulk), compress it, and sell it sort of like gasoline.  The other way is absolutely impractical.  One would be that water always contains tiny amounts of deuterium (heavy water).  Theoretically, it would be possible to use this to fuel a mini-nuclear power plant.  But, you would need millions of gallons of water to generate enough deuterium to be worthwhile.

Answer 22

Cars running on water? Here's another group of scientists who say yes, it's possible. Researchers from the University of Minnesota and Israel's Weizman Institute of Science have figured out a way to use the element Boron to coax water into producing hydrogen gas. That, of course, is quite flammable and can be used to power an internal combustion engine or a fuel cell. And the only emission? Boron Oxide, which can be converted back into Boron and used again.

We've heard things like this before, to a hail of incredulous comments and cries of "bullshit!". We've also heard of a guy in Australia who actually showed his water-powered scooter running on Australian TV but wouldn't reveal how it was done. And here it is again, and now they're saying we'll see a prototype by 2009. This seems too good to be true. Will the oil companies buy this out and kill it? Is this another fable, a la David Mamet's The Water Engine?

Answer 23

I don't think I would buy it. We already wasting a lot of water as it is and thats also part of our efforts to save the environment.