Since many decades people have been searching for a feasible replacement for gasoline to run cars. Though electric-powered cars are gaining popularity all over the world since the last few years but there are several companies and even startups that are working on inventing a variety of high-tech cars like water-fueled cars etc. Through this write-up, we are going to discuss briefly the technology used by these companies and startups for inventing different types of high-tech cars.
Recent innovations about high-tech cars
These days, Israel is gaining popularity as the center of inventing high-tech cars as many companies including Toyota, Hyundai, Mercedes, BMW, GM, and Ford, etc. have initiated their projects in this country.
In this week, a Singapore based company is also going to use Israel for testing its self-drive buses. It has also been announced by Intel and Volkswagen that they are going to launch a service for driverless cars in the coming year.
Along with several big companies, there are certain startup and groups of students also which are trying to create something useful for the environment and mankind. A portable robotic chauffeur has been invented by a group of college students in Israel which can easily be installed into any car. This invention can be more beneficial for those who are not able to drive their car at late night due to tiredness or some other reasons.
The foldable car has also been invented by a startup made by the alumni from the University of Ben-Gurion. It is claimed that this car will easily go through heavy traffic and can fit easily into a small parking space.
Another group including the teams from the Technion Institute and the Ben-Gurion University of Israel has invented a chemical- based technology which can help them in inventing the cars fueled by hydrogen. According to them, the invention of this car can considerably help in replacing the cars using carbon-based fuel with the cars using eco-friendly fuel, hydrogen.
According to Liran Hason and Emanuel Timor, investment analysts, Israel has been considered an ideal place not only by the major companies but also by the newbie startups in the automotive industry for the innovation of high-tech cars due to availability of a wide variety of knowledge in its high-tech industry. Nearly 150 research groups and startups are trying to use their own technology to create something new for the automotive industry in Israel which is almost double than the number of startups active in 2013 in this region.
The innovation of water-fueled cars
Apart from the high-tech cars invented by various companies and startups in Israel, there is a startup Electriq-Global, started by Israeli and Australian innovators in collaboration, which has invented a new technology which can run the car by using fuel including almost 60% of water. According to them, this water fueled car will have no emissions and will cost half of the cost of the electric car and its range will be twice the electric car. The density of the energy produced by the water-fueled car will be 15 times more than produced by the batteries used in electric cars. The technology used in this car was presented recently by the company in the Mediterranean metropolis of Tel Aviv in the Smart Mobility Summit, EcoMotion in 2018.
According to the CEO of the company and an Israeli entrepreneur, Guy N. Mchrowski, the technology used in their car can make dramatic improvement in the time of refueling the car, driving range, and the cost of the fuel along with the changing the rules of driving cars in many ways regarding the storage of energy and transportation. The technology used by them will extract hydrogen from the water which in turn will be converted into electric power to power-up the car.
The technology used by Electriq-Global in water fueled cars
The technology used by Electriq-Global for extracting hydrogen from water is not new. There are companies like Tesla etc. that are using hydrogen cells containing compressed gaseous hydrogen as fuel in their cars to compete with electric vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries. Still, the technology used by Electriq-Global is different as it will get its hydrogen from the fuel containing 60% water.
They have used a catalyst that will react with the liquid fuel containing 10% water to release hydrogen when required. The fuel spent by the car will be captured and sent back to the fuel recycling plant to reuse it after mixing it with the water and hydrogen.
According to Electriq-Global, the entire process used in the water-fueled car is safe, easy to transport, nonflammable, and enables vehicles to emit zero-emissions.
Working of the technology invented by Electriq-Global
Though, battery operated electric cars are gaining popularity all over the world still the water-fueled cars invented by Electriq- Global can compete them effectively by faster filling and providing greater range. It has been claimed by them that once the car is fully charged according to their technology then it can run up to 1000 kilometers whereas 400 kilometer can be the farthest range of the top models of electric cars in one charge.
According to Electriq-Global, their water-fueled car can be filled up in just 5 minutes whereas a lithium-ion battery can take 30-40 minutes to charge fully even at a faster speed. Thus their car can be as convenient as gasoline-powered vehicles. In this way, their technology will half the cost of running their car as compared to the car running on unleaded gasoline due to its water-mixed fuel.
According to the CEO of Electriq-Global, Guy Michrowski, by using this technology they are trying to replace the compressed hydrogen used for this purpose.
However, the project of Electriq-Global is still at the theoretical stage as they have not used their technology in a new type of vehicle whereas the trucks and buses powered by compressed hydrogen are expected to be demonstrated by 2020. The commercialization of water-fueled cars invented by Electriq-Global cannot be expected even by 2022. So far, they have introduced only an e-bike powered by fuel-cell in 2017.
Conclusion
Though the technology used in water-fueled cars invented by Electriq-Global is still at developing stage but it develops a hope that you can expect a car in the near future which can be safer for the environment. This car will be powered by water mixed fuel and can give better performance than electric and gasoline powered cars.