Chinese automaker Seres, the company behind the Aito vehicle brand, has been granted a patent for an in-vehicle toilet. Yes, you are reading it right. It’s a toilet for your car. The Patent number CN224104011U was filed in April 2025 and officially authorized on April 10, 2026.

While the news might seem amusing to many, the design is actually pretty clever. A toilet body sits hidden beneath the car seat, mounted on a sliding rail system. When you need it, you use the rail system to pull it out. 

When you are done, you slide it back under the seat. The whole thing is designed to take up as little space as possible, which matters a lot in small cars and electric vehicles where battery packs already eat up most of the room under the floor.

Is this really new?

Sort of. According to CarNewsChina, another company, Polestone, had a similar idea before, but their version was basically a toilet seat stored in the center console with disposable plastic bags. 

Think of it as a glorified camping toilet. Seeing the designs, I am not sure if Palestine was ever serious about it or merely did it for marketing purposes. Seres’ design goes further by fully integrating the unit into the seat itself, making it the most practical in-car toilet concept proposed so far.

Will this make it into production?

That is where things get complicated. Getting a patent is one thing, but actually building this into a car is another. The engineering challenges are significant: drainage pipes need to fit into an already tight chassis, wastewater has to go somewhere, and the sealing needs to be airtight so your car does not smell like, well, a toilet.

Then there is the psychological barrier. Even with lids and scents, convincing people to use a toilet inside their car is going to be a tough sell. I, for one, will never want a toilet inside my car. 

However, I also don’t take long drives with nothing in sight for hundreds of miles. If you take long drives with no loo facility available for long hours, this might just be the thing for you.

The company seems to understand the psychological barrier, so for now, the design is expected to be offered as an optional add-on rather than a standard feature. Whether it ever sees the light of day beyond a patent filing is anyone’s guess.

China has become a hub for car innovations. We are seeing ultra-fast EV charging capabilities, longer range on a single charge, and more, so much so that even US car buyers are taking notice. In comparison, this patent might feel silly, but at least Seres is thinking outside the box.