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Fueling the Revolution

Local company shows you how to run your car on H2O

Russell Pickavance's short list of life goals reads something like this: 1) Make an affordable, water-powered car. 2) Feed everyone in the world.

First things first.

Pickavance's Santa Fe-based company, Evolution Motion, is one of about a dozen companies to try its hand at making an oxy-hydrogen generator, or Oh-gen, an invention that increases gas mileage. The Oh-gen, which is still on the fringe of the alternative energy market, works by powering existing cars partly through an oxygen and hydrogen mixture instead of just from gasoline.

Here's the technical stuff: According to Evolution Motion's website, "The oxy-hydrogen generator refines water into hydrogen and oxygen on demand, using a small amount of electricity produced by the car it’s attached to. This oxy-hydrogen gas is fed into the air intake of the vehicle, and acts as a supplemental fuel. The hydrogen burns, replacing part of the gasoline, and the oxygen increases overall combustion efficiency, thereby improving both the emissions and fuel economy of the vehicle."

The Oh-gen is 12 inches tall and four inches square and can be installed pretty much anywhere on a car, but is usually placed under the hood. Almost all cars can be outfitted with an Oh-gen, as long as there's enough room in the car. The company's website says Oh-gen owners can expect the $900 device to pay for itself in about a year, on average.

Since there are other companies making oxy-hydrogen generators, what makes Pickavance's one-year-old company different?

"My vision, I think, is what sets us apart," Pickavance says. "I've got the plan on how to get lots of people to sell lots of generators." Thirty-year-old Pickavance wouldn't comment on record about the specifics of his plan, which he said would be off the ground in about six months.

"The energy revolution is the beginning of a whole new world for people," Pickavance says. "The fact is, oil's going to run out and we're going to have to use other forms of energy. That's going to make for some really rad, fun changes in the next decade."

As oil dries up, Pickavance says, companies and individuals will be forced to think of ways to make alternative energy more profitable and affordable. As for his role in this energy revolution, Pickavance plans to be on the front lines of the search for new energy frontiers.

"The world is about to pop," Pickavance says. "I can do things that are good for the world and still profit from them. Once people see that things like oxy-hydrogen power fit inside our economic system, they'll buy into it and things will take off from there. We're in control, so it's just a question of where we want to go."

While Evolution Motion develops their hush-hush business expansion, no Oh-gens will be sold. For more information on the company and to keep tabs on when the generator will again be available for purchase, visit www.evolutionmotion.com.