The "Water Fueled Car"

[the Langolier]

It uses fuel to generate electricity to boil water.

Well, if this is the case, then it seems water isn't the fuel, and therefore we are no longer talking about a water-powered car.

It burns a lot of energy getting the car moving. Once the car is actually moving, fuel consumption goes way down and the car produces most of the electricity it needs to keep the water boiling as it coasts. There are wires running through the boiler that stay red hot from the electricity and keep the water around them very hot.

A similiar argument is that an electric powered car has an electric generator connected to it's drive shaft, allowing the generator to provide most of the power to run the car. It's simply not true. It will take WAY more energy to keep the water boiling than it will be able to "reclaim" from coasting/running. It doesn't matter how the wires are arranged inside the boiler (although the more surface area of heated wire you have touching the water increases efficiency), all that matters is the mass of water. Putting red hot wires in the water *sounds* good, but have you ever put a glowing piece of metal in water? It will steam and gurgle, and in about two seconds the metal will be cool to the touch, and so will the water. The reality is that it will take a lot of current to keep it boiling.

But the benefit of this technology, is that you could use electricity to seperate water into Hydrogen and Oxygen. Electricity can (Key word being 'Can') potentially be produced in more environmentally friendly ways then burning fossil fuels. (See - geothermal, solar, hydroelectric (despite all of its flaws), tidal, nuclear).

This is a true point. But, once again, we would be talking about hydrogen powered cars. Also the issue just becomes "with what will we power our electrolysis plants?" instead of our cars. Not sure what you mean about the flaws of hydroelectric power. I grew up in Vegas, and we survive off Hover Dam.