In 2019, electric truck maker Rivian filed a patent for a “removable auxiliary battery” that would fit into the front third or so of the truck bed. This patent was granted in 2020, so Rivian currently has a patent on this technology.
The patent is described as:
- An electric vehicle system for transporting human passengers or cargo includes an electric vehicle that includes a body, a plurality of wheels, a cargo area, an electric motor for propelling the electric vehicle, and a primary battery for providing electrical power to the electric motor for propelling the electric vehicle. An auxiliary battery module is attachable to the electric vehicle for providing electrical power to the electric motor via a first electrical connector at the auxiliary battery module and a second electrical connector at the electric vehicle that mates with the first electrical connector. The auxiliary battery module can be positioned in the cargo area while supplying power to the electric motor, and can be removable and reattachable from the electric vehicle. The auxiliary battery module includes an integrated cooling system for cooling itself during operation of the electric vehicle including a conduit therein for circulating coolant.
We aren’t patent lawyers here, but this sounds awfully similar to Tesla’s “range extender.” The obvious potential differences we can find are if the range extender doesn’t have integrated cooling, which is unlikely, or if the range extender isn’t removable, which doesn’t seem to jive with the statement that it is only for long trips or with the marketing showing it as an optional add-on (if that were the case, why not just offer different battery sizes?).
Tesla itself has many patents (and is still pursuing more of them) but has pledged not to “initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use its technology.” It announced this in a 2014 blog post and followed up by saying that it thinks several companies are using its patents.
So next, the question is: is Tesla’s solution different enough to avoid Rivian’s patent protection? Has Tesla licensed the idea from Rivian, and we just haven’t heard about it yet? Or will Rivian return Tesla’s “good faith” and not initiate a patent lawsuit against Tesla if it does feel like it has a good enough case to say that Tesla’s range extender infringes on its patent?
Rivian patented removable batteries? I am no fan of tesla, but that seems bonkers.
Replace all mentions of “electric vehicle” and related phrases with “television remote” or “battery powered clock”
Agreed. https://insideevs.com/news/490070/electric-pickup-truck-swappable-batteries-toyota-eve/
Putting them where the bed box would go also seems straightforward logic to me…
High center of gravity in general, but alright for an auxiliary
They invented a removable battery meant to power a consumer pickup truck. Do you see any other removable batteries marketed to do that job before their patent was filed?
They didn’t invent anything meant to power a remote or a clock, which is why those terms don’t appear in their patent.
More generally, patents are not necessarily about “thing nobody has ever imagined before”. Quite often they are “modified and/or improved version of thing that exists”. Like a remote battery modified to power a truck.
You can’t just add “in a truck” to a common idea to make it inique
The patent is more than just adding “in a truck”. The patent is adding “in a truck” and then actually building a removable battery that powers a truck. Which is a device nobody has built before, thus unique.
If you file a patent for “a flying car” without actually submitting designs for a working flying car, you won’t get a patent.
I heard about this company making an EV with quick swap batteries years ago.
Again, just because this is in a truck and auxiliary doesn’t make it a new thing.
Again, Rivian are patenting their specific design for a battery.
For example, do the other batteries have an integrated cooling system? If not, the two designs can easily be covered by separate patents.
There are often separate patents for things that have the same purpose, but different designs. For example, VHS and Betamax, which are both devices to store and retrieve videos on magnetic tape. The details matter more than the general description.
BYD has had removable batteries in their vehicles, and they actually have functioning battery swap stations unlike everybody else. Patent law is pure trash, so companies and people very commonly do junk like tack another word into a design and file a patent. Sadly, in North America, patents basically get rubber stamped and it’s on you when you get sued to supply evidence to invalidate the patent.
But the cybercuck can’t really be called a pickup truck can it? It’s more like the El Camino of electric vehicles.
That sound way WAY too general of a thing to even be patentable. What is this world? I’ll patent “an object with a flat or flatish surface of appropriate material a human can sit on by placing their behind on it and relaxing their legs. It can be used on the floor, where it also can be stored while not in use.”
Welcome to patent law
That’ll be $25k please.
A battery in the bed seems like too obvious of a thing to patent. But I’m not a patent lawyer.
Till someone punctures the bed with whatever they’re loading the truck with.
That’s why the obvious solution is to put batteries in a canopy. The whole canopy.
Great and all just don’t think about the rollover risk
I’m just an idiot, so the only comment I have is that I love the phrase “a plurality of wheels.”
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Plasma
MAXIMUM OVERPOWER
They did, however, leave the 1-wheel loophole open. Fools! They will rue the day they allowed me to use their technology on my tactical unicycle!
Too simple for me. If asked to describe my perfect vehicle, I’d now begin “Well, it would have a plurality of wheels…”
Each axle adds resistance, inefficiency. Behold, Mountain Unicycling.
Cool!
LoL, yeah, I just saw a short film on Mountain Unicycling. And have noticed that when my empty bike trailer is attached to my bike there is a noticeable amount of increased resistance. I looked into the physics, and the reason is clear. More axles = bad. Of course I’m still riding a 2 wheeler, for the record.
Perhaps we should heed the wisdom of the lemmy/kbin front page and embrace the monowheel. The perfect amount of axles, as long as braking isn’t an issue.
I fucking hate general patents like this.
It’s not a unique idea or creation that one person came up with, it’s an obvious thing that anyone would generally think of at some point.
It’s like patenting the idea of indoor plumbing, rather than a type of pipe or fitting to use for indoor plumbing.
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No, Tesla did not pledge any of that
not to initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use its technology.
This sounds like an objectively good thing to me and something more companies should be doing aswell. Not good enough for Lemmy however because Elon Musk.
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