Is water fuel a Scam?

Although it is possible to supplement your current fuel consumption with energy derived from water, there are as yet no verified designs for a car that will run solely on water. Unlike conventional combustible fuels like petrol, diesel and natural gas, water is a stable compound, and does not react with other substances or when heated to release higher energy compounds. When conventional fuels are combusted in a regular engine, it is this release of higher energy compounds that is transferred in the rotary speed needed to turn the engine, and water simply does not provide enough energy on its own to do this. However water does contain hydrogen, which is a combustible gas, and there are hydrogen cars and motorbikes on the market. As water contains hydrogen, it is possible to extract this gas in small amounts from water using electrolysis, and then use this to supplement conventional fuels to run an engine more efficiently and so save money on fuel costs. However with current technology the levels of energy extracted by electrolysis are too small to run an engine on water alone.

Because it is theoretically possible to run vehicles on water, there have been many scams and fraudulent claims regarding water cars, especially in recent years as the cost of conventional fuels have soared. These scams claim that you can convert an engine solely to run on water, and should not be confused with systems that use the electrolysis method to supplement conventional fuel - these do not claim to be water powered cars but rather hybrid cars.

A famous claim about a water-fuelled car that was never verified was the Meyer's Water Fuel Cell. In the 1990's and American inventor, Stanley Meyer, claimed that he had invented a way of powering his 1.6 litre dune buggy on water alone. Because this process was never verified, the exact details of how he achieved this are a bit vague. Basically he claimed that he had replaced the spark plugs with modified "injectors" that sprayed water into the engine. This was then subject to an electrical charge that would extract the hydrogen and oxygen, which would then be combusted, so that it turned back into water vapour. The energy gained from the process was alleged to be powerful enough to turn the engine. Meyer's never managed to substantiate his claim, and in 1996 was actually convicted of fraud in an Ohio court. He later died of an aneurism, and there are some persistent conspiracy theories that suggest he was poisoned to keep his revolutionary water fuel cell suppressed.

Another famous claim was that of Garrett's Electrolytic Carburetor. In 1930's Texan born Charles H Garrett alleged the he had built a new engine that generated enough hydrogen by electrolysis to run on water alone. This was patented, and the drawings show electrolysis plates situated in a regular float style carburettor. Despite the plans being reveled, it was never verified that this engine worked, and some people have speculated that the car that Garrett used in his demonstrations was actually run on conventional fuels.

Some common scams regarding water fuel are those companies selling additives, often in tablet form, that are said to convert water into a usable fuel. This is based on the principle of fuels like acetylene, which is calcium carbide added to water. Acetylene is a highly combustible liquid, and the added carbides give it additional higher energy value. Theoretically it would be possible to create a stable additive that would make water usuable as a fuel, but currently this has not yet been verified. It would also technically be these additives, such as carbides that would be the fuel, and the water itself would just be a vessel. Any cars that run on water mixed with higher energy additives would be a carbide powered car and not a water powered one.