Toyota's new patent reveals a new "charging" mode. Will energy replenishment become the post-battlefield for smart cars?

Toyota has recently been granted a patent for an autonomous refueling/charging drone system that can drive to your location and fill your car with gasoline, hydrogen fuel, or electricity like a military aerial refueling tanker. From the patent design, it turns out to be an unmanned vehicle.

1. Energy anxiety has become a product of the development of new energy vehicles

In recent years, the development of new energy vehicles has brought about a change in the fuel used to drive vehicles, and with it the innovation of the service system. However, user energy anxiety has also become one of the products of the development of electric vehicles. At present, many car companies have laid out different solutions to the charging problem. For example, Tesla has built its own super charging piles, Xiaopeng Motors and Leapmotor have followed suit and built their own fast charging piles, while NIO has taken a unique approach to provide a "one-click charging" service, and has extended three charging scenarios: battery replacement at battery swap stations, charging by charging vehicles, and charging through third-party charging piles.

However, both the construction of infrastructure and Weilai's charging method require a lot of money, and it is difficult to solve the regional energy supply. At the same time, with the upcoming self-driving cars, how to refuel unmanned vehicles at low cost has become a problem that needs to be considered in the future.

2. Toyota's new patent

To address the above issues, Toyota has applied for a new patent that covers "a system that can automatically refuel or charge a stranded gasoline or battery-powered vehicle."

It's not clear if the system will work while the car is moving, though. For safety reasons, it will likely only work with stopped vehicles.

It is reported that Toyota pointed out in the patent document that this system can be used in self-driving cars. The system can replenish various energy sources for the vehicle, such as hydrogen, gasoline, electricity, etc.

It can drive to your location and fill your car with gasoline, hydrogen fuel or electricity like a military aerial refueling tanker. However, judging from the design drawings provided in the original text, it seems to be an unmanned vehicle.

According to the patent application, the "autonomous drone" includes a storage area, a fuel delivery mechanism and a central controller. It is not clear whether it is refueling the vehicle ahead while in motion or just when stationary.

In theory, the drone could reportedly stop several times in a trip to refuel or recharge a vehicle, then return to recharge itself. Proximity sensors, GPS, and an automatic refueling port would allow the drone to do the entire operation while the driver sits back in the car and rests.

Therefore, when equipped with more than just batteries, the vehicle can carry lighter fuel to improve efficiency.

Of course, technology like this is still a long way from hitting public roads, and will only be feasible once mass-market, fully autonomous cars are approved for use on the road alongside human drivers. Currently, the car is at SAE Level 2, and Honda will soon launch the Legend in Japan with SAE Level 3 in the coming months. It will be some time before it reaches Level 5.

Perhaps, then, we might hope to see these refueling drones start taking to the streets and helping stranded motorists.