GM has filed a patent application for an electrically-assisted flatbed trailer that would offset the reduction in range when towing for battery-electric trucks.
This GM patent filing has been assigned application number US 2022/0126714 A1 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and was published on April 28th, 2022. It’s titled “battery electric vehicle assisted towing concept” and lists Michigan-based engineers Norman K. Bucknor, Madhusudan Raghavan and Venkata Prasad Althuri as the inventors.
This patent describes a system to “extend the towing range and maneuverability,” of a car or truck during towing operation. The system includes a powered trailer with at least one small electric propulsion unit, which “enhances launch of the BEV and provides an acceleration assist,” to the vehicle. A communication link between the trailer and vehicle would ensure the trailer’s electric-assist powertrain would work in unison with the vehicle to optimize range and performance. The trailer would have its own separate battery pack, so in theory, this design would offset some of the range reduction EV drivers experience when towing.
The patent application also describes a dual-motor version of the trailer with opposing electric motors, which would be able to spin each of the trailer’s wheels at different speeds when turning, resulting in a tighter turning radius and greater maneuverability. A trailer such as this on a Chevy Silverado EV with four-wheel-steer would theoretically be much more maneuvrable than a comparable truck without these technologies.
GM also recently filed a patent application for a hitch angle determination system for vehicles equipped with four-wheel-steer, which would allow for Chevy and GMC trucks with four-wheel-steer to use tech such as steering assistance and screen guidelines when towing a trailer. With a trailer design like that described in the patent, along with a hitch angle determination system, future GM electric trucks could offer impressive maneuverability when towing.
Subscribe to GM Authority for GM more patent filing news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
Litterally the dumbest idea. Hey! I just spend 80G’s on a truck…. How about I spend another 30 on a flatbed that would otherwise cost 8-10, or 50 on a flatbed that would cost 15-20.
Also, replacing the batteries every 5-10 years. Many trailers last longer than trucks due to their simplicity. An owner will normally go through 2 trucks before replacing their trailer, so this will actually increase the cost of the trailer by 3-4 times, not 2. All for what? 20% extra towing range?
Do they have that many diversity hires in the engineering department?
A REALLY long extension cord is best.
Literally the dumbest comment. Hey! I just spent 80 Gs on a truck for my business! I get to amortize that over X years and deduct the cost from my business taxes! How about I spend another 30 on a flatbed trailer that I can deduct, too!
Also, when I replace the batteries, I get to amortize them! Plus I get to increase my productivity by 20 percent!
Even a diversity hire could figure that out….
You do know that what you write off just reduces your taxable income. It doesn’t give you a free truck. Making money with less expense is better than more expense.
The comments section has really gone downhill. …diversity hire? lol
A diversity hire is when a occupation, such as engineers or technician Which have been always a field where 80% of the workforce is white males. To advance “diversity” and “inclusion” these woke companies are hiring from that other 20% of the workforce. Thus there’s an 80% chance these workers aren’t the most qualified, and instead got their job because of their skin color or genitalia. Notice here in the last 5 years many of the heads of engineering (particular the head of the Silverado EV program) are all women? I understand a woman here or there, but when the field is 90% male, predominantly Caucasian as well, having most those department heads being women, it’s obvious they aren’t there because of merit. You hire and promote idiots, you get stupid results. You can hire 1 or 2 under qualified individuals and still get great results out of the team, buts it’s getting obvious that GM is so into the diversity rabbit hole they are letting the blind lead the blind to say.
“Madhusudan Raghavan and Venkata Prasad Althuri as the inventors”…says it all.
Nobody could have described better the need for consciously making the automotive industry more diverse. Thanks!
Know what would be really nice electrified assisted towing? How about a hybrid truck.
I think this will be the trend. There are other concept trailers out there with battery packs lining the floor. Smart move by GM.
Intriguing. For commercial use where they pull a trailer every day, this would provide huge benefit.
Wonder if they can include wiring so that when you plug in the truck, the batteries on the trailer would also charge over night. Also using the trailer braking to recharge the batteries.
I see the biggest aspect being pricing. There will be significant benefit to this but will cost be reasonable to help sell this?
For commercial use???? When you have a OTR hauler, you do more than 400 miles a day. You’ll need 1, a trailer that is all battery and 0 load, so useless, 2, a week to recharge via fast charger. That’s a lot of energy. If you mean for say a lawmowing business, not happening as they already buy the Work trim gas trucks and won’t be looking at a BEV.
The price of the trailer can be deducted from the business’s overall tax burden. So, no problem.
Clever idea. This would be even more awesome if the batteries could double as house batteries for a travel trailer and recharge from campground electricity. GM seems to be looking for ways to sell Ultium batteries to a wide variety of industries. As long as they can produce enough of them, I think they’re setting themselves up as a huge industry supplier that will be very profitable.
The Tesla S take 3 days to charge with a 110V socket. These trucks will take 5, and with the trailer it will take a whole week with that power output. After a couple days you will have just enough charge to leave your camp to go to the nearest town, to rent a tow truck to pull your trailer home.
There is a reason trailers currently don’t carry onboard ICE engines. This is super expensive, inefficient and just overall dumb. But what do you exspect from todays world.
Campgrounds normally have 30A and 50A hook-ups, so charging could be faster than what you mention above, assuming standard 20A house receptacle. I never spend less than three nights at a campground. Usually four or five to make the setup and breakdown worth it.
Great job. Makes sense. We are entering a new era.
The only part about this ‘Invention’ that is patentable is the silly ‘motors at different speeds’ – which of course, no mention has been made about power consumption for this bone-headed idea…. 100 years ago they handled the problem with a differential.
But Dozens of people have already put additional battery packs in their trailers and towed motor homes to increase the range beyond normal when they are on vacation.
Par for the course : Most of these silly things GM, TESLA, and FORD come up as ‘Inventions’ will never – ever be used, and the main ‘corporate benefit’ is probably ‘Virtue Signaling’ – in that it allows the company to say that it is ‘Environmentally With IT!”
The trailer idea sounds great. Why don’t they go back to the Volt technology, this is what Toyota is doing.
How inefficient is that? Hook up a trailer to carry more batteries so you can tow something else?? Sounds spectacularly dumb to me!!
I love my gas powered 1/2 ton pickup, 4 door sedan, Honda lawnmowers and Stihl blowers etc,
Found this article in motorbiscuit back in January and it definitely will open your eyes on what the tree huggers fail to tell us
Lithium mining requires a massive amount of water, which is increasingly in short supply in many regions of the world. Approximately 500,000 gallons of water get used for every ton of lithium mined. To extract lithium, “miners drill a hole in salt flats and pump salty, mineral-rich brine to the surface.” The water then evaporates after several months, which leaves lithium and other minerals. The Lithium Triangle in South America, which includes portions of Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina, contains more than half of the world’s supply of lithium. The region is also very dry. In Chile’s Salar de Atacama, lithium mining consumes 65% of the region’s water. The problem is so bad that farmers and other people in the local communities have to get water elsewhere. In addition to using a great deal of water, lithium mining causes water, soil, and air pollution. Toxic chemicals like hydrochloric acid used in the mining process can leak from evaporation pools and contaminate the surrounding area.
Another problem regarding lithium-ion EV car batteries is the high amount of lithium-ion waste. For example, in Australia, “only two percent of the country’s 3,300 metric tons” of lithium-ion batteries get recycled. The lithium-ion waste typically ends up in landfills, where it can potentially leak into the environment.
Yup, there’s no free lunch. Gotta choose yer poison wisely. And yer sources, for that matter….
Not a new idea, trains can plug in flatbed car with electric wheel motors powered by the main engine. This just puts a battery on it.