‘Start up toilet function’: Chinese carmaker patents voice-activated in-car toilet

SHANGHAI – A Chinese automaker has patented a toilet concealed beneath a sliding car seat that can be operated using voice commands, according to a government database.

Electric vehicle company Seres received patent approval for its mobile latrine earlier in April, public records show.

The on-the-go lavatory can be accessed manually through pushing the seat back, as well as through the voice command “start up toilet function”.

The amenity is intended to “satisfy users’ toilet needs on long journeys, while camping or while living in the car”, Seres engineers wrote in the patent filing.

A fan mechanism and an exhaust pipe funnel odours out of the car, while waste is collected in a tank that must be emptied periodically.

The toilet also features a rotating heating element that evaporates urine and dries other waste.

The sliding seat design “optimises the utility of the car’s interior”, Seres said in the filing.

China’s electric vehicle companies have unveiled models decked out with increasingly outlandish accessories in recent years in a bid to impress buyers in an oversaturated market.

Features like karaoke systems and mini-fridges have become common, and carmaker Nio boasts a built-in “hot stone massage” in its car seats.

Industry champion BYD in 2025 announced an intelligent vehicle-mounted drone system it said would be available across all models, while XPeng has said deliveries of its “Land Aircraft Carrier” – a car that contains its own six-propeller flying vehicle – should start in 2026.

Seres has yet to announce any toilet-equipped vehicles, and it is unclear if any will be produced.

The company, which partnered with telecommunications giant Huawei to develop its premium AITO line, did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment. AFP