You Can Run Your Car on Water (uh actually you can't)

I was on the R4NT blog and saw this Google Ad saying "Run Your Car on Water" which linked to a website by a similar name.

This website makes a number of insane and contradictory claims. Unfortunately (or fortunately given that it makes for somewhat interesting reading and/or blogging) the claims are demonstratively false. Such claims include:

"Learn how using water in your car can save you thousands"

"Affordable set up cost (well under $100)"

"Dramatically improve fuel economy"

"Fast and easy setup - Only a few hours, even for novices"

Like most too good to be true claims, this website is undoubtedly too good to be true. Generally these kind of websites/scams/urban rumours tend to pop up when people go "damn gas is expensive". Ignoring the fact that gasoline is not expensive on a per litre basis compared to virtually every other substance (treated water, Coke, beer, whatever), these type of ideas generally revolve around a huge conspiracy in that people are getting boned into crappy fuel economy.

Lets look at the basis for this website's false claims:

Converting your car or truck to a hybrid water vehicle is a great solution. This is a safe, easy and effective way to get your car running on less gas and with fewer emissions.

Water hybrid retrofit? First that doesn't exist. This Japanese company made one from scratch but not a retrofit. Oh well it does on this website which is also obviously a scam. Oh and here too... scam. Second, even if it did exist a "water hybrid" would convert hydrogen into a usable fuel source emitting water as a byproduct. This is neither cheap nor easy (i.e. Ballard Power burning through hundreds of millions trying to do this commercially). Even when you read more into the technology it is obvious that this isn't using "water" for "gas" rather a much more complex theoretical solution.

The hydrogen system known as HHO or Brown's Gas can help your vehicle's system burn fuel in a more efficient way and this technology is easy to implement but has been guarded for years. Thanks to the internet and some online resources, you can access this information and use it to your advantage.

Ah yes thank the interwebs for giving us this resource. Also thank the Al Gore for allowing me to check to see that yes indeed this "HHO" process has been kicking around for a few years without any further commercialization. And if people haven't made a buck off this concept yet, they never will.

And you want to know the reason why these concepts all look and smell scammy? Look no further than its own website:

Now, when you purchase the information online you can use it to not only double your gas mileage on your vehicle but you can use the information to start your own online or offline business. Many people get the information and implement it and see a golden opportunity to help family and friends and themselves. No one wants to see the sickenlingly rich oil companies continue to prosper off our hard work and the way the rates continue to skyrocket make it so unfair to the average person who is just trying to get by.

Screw the man! This is better than any get rich quick scheme. It'll just help you get rich and quick!

So you may ask, MaxPower, why are you devoting time to writing about what is so obviously a scam? Well while I first clicked on the link to have a laugh, I then googled "water hybrid car" and "water hybrid car scam" and was surprised with the number of websites which popped up saying exactly the same thing. A good one was supposedly a guy who bought the $97 kit who said he "thought" it was a scam but then found out it wasn't! Actually he was trying to sell you the $97 kit too, soooo yeah. What this shows is that people will believe anything when they think they are getting ripped off even when reputable sites like Popular Mechanics have "debunked most of the devices on the market today that claim to increase your fuel economy. They simply don™t work." There is something sad and funny about people's gullibility.

Sad + Funny = Sunny or Fad, either one.