The drive towards electric power for cars and motorcycles is throwing up many ingenious solutions but perhaps this Argentinian student has hit on the best one yet.

Salt Water-Powered Motorbike!

In the relentless drive towards and electric future for cars and motorcycles, many small companies are coming up with innovative new ideas but none are more intriguing than this one from Argentinian student Santiago Hernandez.

Hernandez studies chemistry and when he learned about electrolysis, something clicked in his brain and he wondered if it could be used for propulsion in a vehicle. He set to work on his idea and now, La Moto Argentina is reporting that he has invented an electric motor that runs on salt water, with no other fuel involved.

Electrolysis is the process by which an ionic compound - an ion being an atom with a non-neutral charge - is broken apart into its constituent elements using a direct current (DC).

Speaking to La Moto Argentina, Hernandez said, “We need people in the world who innovate and who people support.” About his project, he added, “It would require structural modifications, especially with equipment similar to that of compressed natural gas (CNG).”

He calls the project “Un Paso Verde de la Vez”, translated as “One Green Step at a Time.” If this is commercially viable, this isn't one small step but a giant leap! Quite how the oil and electricity-generating companies are going to react is another - and entirely predictable - matter.

As La Moto Argentina reports, “the prototype uses a glass jar replacing the fuel tank, in which dirty water or sea water is loaded and which feeds the electronic system to drive the rear wheel by a chain.” Obviously, a glass jar isn't the safest container to use but that is detail that can be refined. Hernandez himself recommends the use of a compressed natural gas cylinder.

The article doesn't say how fast or far the moped will travel but one has to assume that it does actually work.

Far from keeping the technology to himself, Hernandez has said that should he reach 10,000 followers on his TikTok page (santyherrera01), he will release a tutorial video explaining how to make it.

If this is true and viable, then this is an incredible development. Of course, the amount of electricity produced might not be sufficient to power the whole motorcycle, unless you could carry a lot of salt water but, as a prospect, it is utterly tantalising.