New gizmo lets you charge your phone with water

Welcome to the future of technology, guys. This neat little device that you can see in the image below, has the capability to charge your phone using just water. Yes, you read that correct, only water and there’s no hidden trick, out here. Using fuel cell technology, Powertrekk has launched a new fuel cell charger that aims to take care of your smartphone battery problems. While this isn’t the first time, we’re hearing about fuel cell technology, all previous instances have either been prototypes, or WIP projects. This is one of those rare times that the product is actually available for purchase.

Looks pretty impressive!

Here’s how Powertrekk’s fuel cell charger works. You need to fill up the water compartment of the charger with one tablespoon (only!?) of water and close the lid. Thereafter, just connect your device to the USB – a connector and your device (phone, or any other device working on the same voltage source). PowerTrekk uses passive fuel cell technology, which cleanly converts hydrogen into electricity. You need to simply insert a PowerPukk fuel pack (recyclable, but single usage only) and add water to charge your device on the go. The chemistry process is safe, controllable and eco-friendly, and the only byproduct from the fuel cell is a little water vapour. To operate, hydrogen must be supplied to the fuel cell, and the fuel cell must be exposed to the open air.

The parts

Solar chargers are existing, but unlike solar chargers, fuel cell power is generated quickly (no waiting for sun harvesting) and reliably (speed of charging not impacted by weather, solar position etc. and no power degradation like batteries). Some might even think, wouldn’t it just make more sense to carry an extra iPhone battery around everywhere? Oops, nevermind! But, it does make sense for the rest of us having a removable battery.

There’s one major factor that will determine the success of this technology, the pricing. Right now, you’ll be set back by a cool Rs.11,560 (approx) to just buy the device. The pack of PowerPukk batteries will be extra. If they do find a way to get the pricing down drastically, we can see acceptance on a much wider scale. So, as of now, most of us can’t really purchase this expensive device, but we’re hopeful that with some advanced research, the price does come down. What do you guys think about the Powertrekk fuel cell charger?