SERES

Seres patents toilet for electric vehicles Aito

The Chinese company Seres has developed a toilet system that can be pulled out and then completely hidden under the passenger seat of an SUV.

When it comes to comfort while driving, people usually think of seats with a massage function, quality acoustics or large screens, however, the Chinese company Seres, which together with Huawei produces premium vehicles under the Aito brand, has decided to go much further. It has patented a solution for situations when passengers are unable to find the nearest toilet during a long journey or when they are stuck in traffic.

It was recently revealed that Seres has patented a "toilet built into a vehicle and an automobile". Patent number CN224104011U was filed back in April 2025, and its official approval came on April 10, 2026.

According to the patent description, the device consists of a toilet body and a special mechanism with guides. The main feature is maximum space saving. The toilet is installed directly under the passenger seat, and when needed, the structure is pulled forward and retracted after use, becoming completely invisible in the interior.

This approach differs significantly from previous attempts by other manufacturers. For example, the Polestone brand previously offered a portable option where the toilet seat was stored in a central box and used with disposable bags. Seres' solution looks like a much more complex and integrated system.

Despite the technological innovation, the introduction of such an option into mass production comes with a number of problems. The main difficulty lies in the layout of the chassis of modern electric vehicles. In the Aito line models, almost all the space under the floor is occupied by a massive battery. The placement of drain pipes and waste tanks requires a serious revision of the vehicle architecture.

In addition to technical aspects, there are other factors, such as:

- sealing: ensuring complete isolation from unpleasant odors in the closed space of the cabin

- maintenance: reliability of moving parts and ease of cleaning the system

- psychology: the willingness of users to use the toilet directly in the car.

It's hard to say what will happen with this patent at the moment, but we could see it as an exclusive add-on option for VIP versions of large SUVs or minivans. While skeptics may call it another marketing gimmick, for those who spend several hours a day on the road, such functionality could prove far more useful than another screen.

Autonews