The 60 mpg car, just add water

Presentation in Milwaukie shows off DIY technology that uses water to increase fuel efficiency

By Matthew Graham

The Clackamas Review, Nov 4, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (4 Reader comments)

Ari Cohen shows off modifications he made to the engine of his Volkswagon Jetta so it can convert water to a hydrogen gas that helps with fuel efficiency last week at Milwaukie High School.

Matthew Graham / Clackamas Review

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It’s not quite water to wine, but with the price of gas in recent months, it may be better.

Do-it-yourselfers around the world are sharing an old technology that uses distilled water to make fuel burn more efficiently. What’s more, they’re claiming their fuel efficiency is increasing by as much as 75 percent.

One of the pioneers of the technology, Ozzie Freedom, stopped by Milwaukie High School last week to show off a souped-up Volkswagon Jetta that he claims is getting more than 60-miles-per-gallon on a trek he’s making to Florida.

“I think we’re all here because we’re trying to stick it to the big oil companies,” he told about 50 people gathered in Milwaukie’s cafeteria.

Ari Cohen, who is making the cross-country journey with Freedom, said the technology they’re using is about 100 years old; it just needed a new application.

“My father told me about this technology 15 years ago,” he said. “Hydrogen as an element is the most abundant energy source in the world.”

The system works by placing distilled water and a small amount of electrolytes in the car. An energy current is run through the water, turning it from the liquid H2O to the gaseous HHO. The HHO is supposed to break up the gasoline into smaller droplets so that it can burn more efficiently.

“If you buy a 2009 BMW 7 series – $90,000, one of the best cars you can get – even as expensive as that car is, it’s still only getting about 30 percent efficiency,” Cohen said, with efficiency meaning the amount of gas burned versus actual energy stored in the gasoline.

But with the systems they’ve developed, they say increasing efficiency by 25 percent is seen as a failure – 33 percent is average, and over 50 percent is good, but not altogether uncommon.

And he said one quart of water is lasting him 500 to 600 miles.

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