Genepax bosses unveiled their Water Energy System to reporters in Osaka, using it to charge an electric vehicle that was driven around the city.

According to media reports from Japan, the company said its system has an energy generator that extracts hydrogen from water without using any outside energy.

The generator then releases electrons that produce electric power to run the car.

The company said that just a litre of any kind of water will be enough to power the car up to speeds of 80km an hour for about an hour.

CEO Kiyoshi Hirasawa told reporters: “The main characteristic of this car is that no external input is needed.

“The car will continue to run for as long as you have a bottle of water inside for you to add from time to time.”

Genepax now hope to work with a Japanese manufacturer to mass produce the vehicle.

But it is not the only company that has been developing a water-powered car.

Swiss-based firm Ethos has also been working on technology to turn humble H2O into a fuel for motorists.

Bosses acknowledged that it will now be a race against time to see who can produce the first water-powered car for the commercial market.

The car is one of a number of clean transport innovations that Ethos’ Research and Development Department is working on.

CEO Peter Aldred said: “The plans we have for the coming months ahead are very exciting and we are preparing hard for the unprecedented growth we see before us.”

Kate Martin

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