Honda needs to construct additional cupboard space into EV bumpers for deliveries.
A patent utility submitted by the automaker to america Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO) on July 13, 2023, and printed on Feb. 1, 2024, particulars a slide-out drawer for packages, turning automobiles into mailboxes on wheels.
Honda rear bumper storage patent picture
This hidden storage compartment is designed for a doable future wherein automobiles might be designated as supply places, one thing Volvo examined in Sweden in 2015. On the time, Volvo pitched in-car supply as a manner for purchasers to obtain essential packages even when they don’t seem to be dwelling throughout enterprise hours to signal for them.
Leaving a package deal within the trunk of a automotive is a little more safe than leaving it on a stoop or porch, however, as Honda notes within the patent utility, the tradeoff is {that a} third get together will get entry to a automotive’s inside. The in-bumper storage compartment gives a safe place to depart a package deal whereas conserving the remainder of the automotive off-limits. It is designed to be locked and unlocked individually from the doorways and trunk, and even has its personal air conditioner so packages might be left within the automotive on sizzling days.
Honda rear bumper storage patent picture
The area required for this storage compartment would probably solely be out there in an electrical automotive. Accompanying drawings present what seems to be a small exhaust tip, however the form and placement of the storage compartment would make packaging an exhaust system tough. The warmth generated by the exhaust might additionally make local weather management of the storage compartment harder.
No patents are assured to be commercialized, however this one, as written, depends on a service that hasn’t come into existence but. Honda might in all probability discover different makes use of for a rear-bumper storage compartment, although. The automaker already gives an in-bed storage compartment within the Ridgeline pickup truck, so why cease there?