Ford Patents Rooftop Battery Extender (LMAO)

[Lunentucker]

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[whysoserious]

Wonder how much that thing's gonna weigh....

 

[Sandevino]

Available for hard top only and now negates the ability to remove said hard top.

 

[jeepers29]

Don't think the engineers thought about center of gravity on this one.

 

[BearFootSam]

Don't think the engineers thought about center of gravity on this one.

Right? The whole advantage of the "skateboard" ev chassis is a dramatically lower COG than a conventional IC layout. So they take the low COG design and literally turn it on its head and declare it for OFF ROAD use! I'm no engineer or rock crawler so tell me if I'm wrong that having the heaviest component on a vehicle above the roof line is not good for stability.

 

[sharpsicle]

Y'all talk about it like they're ready to manufacture it.

A patent is just there to protect the idea, and to protect any further developments made based on it.

Silly silly.

 

[Hootbro]

All the inventors are from Mexico. Seems about fitting.

I am with @sharpsicle , most automotive patents are about keeping others from running with it than going into production themselves using the idea.

 

[jeepers29]

Y'all talk about it like they're ready to manufacture it.

A patent is just there to protect the idea, and to protect any further developments made based on it.

Silly silly.

Why spend the money to patent a really stupid idea? Who is going to run with this? Nobody.

 

[STACHES]

Why spend the money to patent a really stupid idea? Who is going to run with this? Nobody.

It's a very smart patent with the ultra light battery development going on for electric aircraft. Do you really think batteries will be heavy forever? Just look at the changes in the last 20 years...

 

[Elff]

doesn't matter how light it is
The roof on a Bronco can't hold a AA battery.

 

[bleda2002]

Why spend the money to patent a really stupid idea? Who is going to run with this? Nobody.

Why do you assume it is a heavy battery? People already shove hundreds of pounds up there in tents and racks and crap, a 200 lb removable battery would not be too far fetched and depending on battery tech could provide a lot of range.

 

[STACHES]

a 200 lb removable battery would not be too far fetched and depending on battery tech could provide a lot of range.

That's basically what they are trying to patent. It's an electric jerry can.

 

[DBravo]

Don't think the engineers thought about center of gravity on this one.

Maybe it comes with an extra set of accessory wheels so when you roll over, you keep going...

 

[Lunentucker]

Well now that some of us are taking this seriously, I'll point out that it's a ridiculous patent and it should have never been awarded to begin with. Where you put the battery on the vehicle is quite arbitrary and whatever protection that Ford thinks they just scored would likely be laughed out of court.

 

[sharpsicle]

I would strongly disagree. This is a totally valid patent. Why wouldn't it be? This is just as valid of a patent as bed rack designs or removable roofing designs. Surely you can't be saying those are ridiculous as well?

The classic beer mug, beer barrel, and barrel holder were once patented. Those were much more basic in concept, design, and function than this. And certainly were not revolutionary in their thinking. Patents aren't issued based on ingenuity or development. They're issued based on intellectual property rights.

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