(Yicai Global) May 24 -- Pang Qingnian, president of China's Youngman Automobile Group, has denied claims that his company's water-powered truck is a fake.

Technology to split water into hydrogen to power vehicles is mature and Youngman will not delay such projects, the 21st Century Business Herald reported today, citing Pang. His words come just a day after regional newspaper Nanyang Daily reported that the company's water-hydrogen engines had begun rolling off the production line.

Netizens and industry experts are largely skeptical about the truck, which Youngman unveiled in 2017 and claims can run for 500 miles on a full tank of water. A sedan with the same sized water tank would have a 1,000 kilometer range, according to the Zhejiang province-based firm.

The truck has an onboard hydrogen generator that separates hydrogen from water to burn as fuel in real time, essentially making the vehicle a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, Cover Media citing Prof. Guan Bin of Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Institute of Internal Combustion Engine as saying.

Just adding water cannot power a vehicle as hydrogen generation involves a series of complex physical and chemical reactions, he said.

Nanyang, a city in China's Henan province, penned a CNY8.3 billion (USD1.2 billion) deal to work with Youngman on the project in November, with local authorities chipping in CNY4 billion, according to the 21st Century Business Herald.

The government will discuss the matter and offer an officially response to media after drawing a conclusion, it said today.

Editor: James Boynton