Genepax Water Car

The Japanese Genepax Water Car made headlines when esteemed news organization Reuters reported this so-called invention with little detail on how it is supposed to work. At this point in time, with the knowledge available about this vehicle, this so-called perpetual motion water car appears to be a hoax as it has been described by its manufacturers.

Now, with additional information about this car, I may move it into the fact category but like Ricki Ricardo says, in the I Love Lucy Show, they've got some "'xplaining to do." Reuters reported the Genepax as a 100-percent water car, which as any critic will point out violates the first law of thermodynamics.

Further reports talk about the Genepax having a "membrane electrode assembly" or MEA that uses a chemical reaction to crack water into hydrogen and oxygen. This chemical reaction, however is suspect since whatever this reaction is, then the chemical will most likely be depleted at some point and this in then part of the fuel (invalidating the 100-percent water car claim).

The reports from the president of Genepax Hirasawa Kiyoshi have him stating that the car only needs water and air to operate and no catalysts are added to crack the H2O. Also, very little platinum is used in the Genepax, which implies it uses a PEM fuel cell once the water is cracked in order to power the vehicle.

Now, the Genepax water car provokes more questions than it answers. For instance, you can run a fuel cell in reverse adding water to it to generate hydrogen and oxygen. Buy, why would a person want to do this only to run the hydrogen and oxygen through a fuel cell the other direction to produce electricity?

Now, the chemical cracking of water is also no secret. Just add water, aluminum and drain cleaner and hydrogen is produced (don't try this at home as it is very dangerous). But, in this scenario the aluminum eventually degrades and the drain cleaner is part of the fuel, which causes the reaction, so a similar reaction would not be the basis for a 100-percent water car, either.

Because the Genepax is said to run on 100-percent water, with no catalyst or other fuels and some sort of chemical reaction that apparently is perpetual without degrading or needing replacement, I have to put this in the fiction category for now.

Of course as more details come to light, this may just be another variation of a hydrogen on demand system that partly uses water, other chemicals, electricity, and a fuel cell to produce energy and propel the vehicle. But, the claim right now is that Genepax is a 100-percent water car and this just doesn't pass the smell test.