Towable trailers are typically the epitome of dumb vehicles, passively pulled without any native tech. General Motors has come up with an idea for a smart trailer that can drive and transform itself in a variety of ways. It recently filed a patent on a “tilting cargo deck system” that explains how it could work.
The trailer features two axles and a chassis split down the middle transversely, with a hinge connecting the two halves. Above them is a deck with a lifting mechanism for each side.
The chassis can be folded to bring the axles closer together as the deck rises and the lifting mechanisms extend to support it. This allows the trailer to be loaded close to the ground, then raised to transfer cargo into a higher truck box.
One side can also be lowered while a second top deck, “slidably coupled to a subdeck,” shifts to create a ramp for a wheeled vehicle or conveyance to roll onto. The deck is then lifted to straighten out the surface again for towing.
The patent says the system can be self-powered or draw electricity from an external power source. It can also be equipped with its own propulsion system and used to move cargo independent of a towing vehicle.
GM hasn’t indicated any plans to put anything like it into production, but it is exploring cargo-focused vehicles. GM Defense recently unveiled an Unmanned Ground Vehicle, which is a Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD converted into a flatbed with no provisions for passengers.
GM also previously designed the electric Surus platform, a modular vehicle system built around an autonomous hydrogen fuel cell-powered flatbed chassis.
