- Seres patents hidden toilet tucked beneath passenger seat.
- Fan and exhaust system helps whisk away unpleasant odors.
- Heating element dries solids and liquids stored in waste tank.
Some drivers chase Nurburgring lap times or quarter-mile records, others want to prove their cars can climb over rocks the size of the average subcompact. But some get behind the wheel and find they just really, really need to use the bathroom, and now one Chinese automaker is answering their calls… of nature.
Aito’s Seres brand has filed a patent for an in-car toilet that hides under the passenger seat. It can be pulled out manually or summoned by voice command, meaning your car might soon respond to phrases no cabin microphone was emotionally prepared for.
Related: Study Says Cars Are Dirtier Than The Average Toilet
Before anyone gets reckless ideas of breaking the Cannonball record because tech has made it possible to poop while going 150 mph (240 km/h), this device isn’t designed for drivers barreling down the freeway. Think stationary moments, instead. Traffic jams that outlast your patience. Campsites. Overnight stops. The big queue outside a service station where everyone suddenly regrets that second coffee.
According to local reports, the unit uses a rail mechanism that lets it slide in and out like a drawer. When finished, it disappears back under the seat, making use of space that’s usually occupied by old receipts, lost kids toys and french fries gone awol.
Fan-Assisted
Seres/China MIIT
Seres didn’t stop at the basic throne, Car News China explains. The patent reportedly includes a fan and exhaust setup to send unpleasant aromas outside, where they can become someone else’s problem. Waste goes into a removable tank that must be emptied manually.
There’s also a heating element designed to dry solids and evaporate liquids. It sounds far more sophisticated than fellow car brand Polestones’ solution: a clip-on plastic toilet seat for the central armrest cubby and trash bag liner to catch everything that falls through (below).
Why do this at all? Because China’s domestic market is brutally competitive, and brands are throwing everything at buyers. Massage seats, karaoke functions, onboard fridges, giant screens, lounge chairs. If everyone else is fighting over infotainment, maybe sanitation is the next frontier.
Production? Don’t Hold your Breath
Whether it’ll reach production on future versions of models like the Seres 7 SUV is another matter entirely. Plenty of patents exist only to test ideas or protect them. There are also obvious hurdles like plumbing, sealing, durability, and convincing passengers that it’s entirely normal to use the bathroom only a couple of feet from your family and friends or where they’ll soon be sitting.
Still, as left-field as this story sounds, history offers precedent. We’ve previously written about a Toyota 4Runner with a toilet conversion, and last year auction house RM Sotheby’s sold a 1954 Rolls Royce with Vignale bodywork and what the auction catalog described as a “gold-plated toilet-cum-champagne cooler” under the rear seat. Maybe it’s just us, but surely those two functions ought never to ever be mixed up.
