Seres patents hidden in-car toilet for long journeys, camping use

Seres has patented an in-car toilet that hides beneath a sliding passenger seat and can be pulled out when needed, a striking example of how China’s electric-vehicle race is spilling into ever more attention-grabbing features. The utility model, approved on April 10, 2026 under publication number CN224104011U, was filed on April 22, 2025 and is designed to meet toilet needs on long journeys, while camping or while living in the car.

The layout is unusual even by the standards of a sector that has leaned hard into novelty. The patent places the toilet under a passenger seat on a sliding rail system, and says it can be opened manually or by voice command using the phrase “start up toilet function.” Seres also built in a fan and exhaust pipe to manage odors, a waste tank that must be emptied manually, and a heating element that evaporates urine and dries other waste. The design is practical in intent, but the headline feature is impossible to miss: a hidden toilet built into a vehicle cabin.

Seres, based in Chongqing and best known for its Aito premium EVs developed with Huawei, has not announced any toilet-equipped production vehicle, and there is no sign yet that the feature is headed for showroom models. Still, the patent fits a broader pattern across China’s crowded EV market, where brands are using massage seats, karaoke systems and refrigerators to stand out from rivals. In a market where hardware upgrades can quickly be copied, eye-catching cabin gimmicks can become part of the competitive playbook.

The company’s financial scale helps explain why it can experiment aggressively. Aito exceeded 420,000 cumulative annual deliveries in 2025, giving Seres a stronger base than many newer electric-vehicle challengers. Seres also reported record 2025 revenue of RMB165.05 billion and net profit of RMB5.96 billion, evidence that the company is no longer fighting only for survival but for differentiation at the premium end of China’s new-energy market.

The idea is unusual, but not entirely without precedent. BBC reporting pointed to a 1950s Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith that had a toilet beneath the passenger seat, a reminder that automotive comfort has always had room for eccentricity. In today’s EV market, though, a patent like this says less about bathrooms than about pressure: when competition is brutal, even a toilet can become a product strategy.