Picture this: An electric car becomes too critically low in charge to reach its destination, so it contacts an automated dispatch center. Some time later, a little battery-carrying drone meets up with the car en route, connecting with a roof-mounted interface on the vehicle, providing extra charge to the vehicle and allowing it to complete its trip without a hitch.
The idea, in a patent approval posted earlier this month and found by Greentech Media, might have not been taken all that seriously had there not been a big name attached to it: Amazon. While a drone might not be able to carry its own weight plus the weight of an extra battery very far before this scenario simply isn?t viable, Amazon has a track record of making such moonshots?like its supply-chain and delivery logistics?workable. The patent notes that traditional fuels could also be delivered via the ?uncrewed autonomous vehicle,? although some states might take issue with unmanned delivery and flight of gasoline or diesel.
Tech companies patent a lot of things, and this doesn?t mean that Amazon sees this system as a viable solution right now?or that it is even developing the idea. On one hand, the solution seems farcical, like something that engineers patented just because they could. And while it might be that, Amazon declined to explain any further. A company spokeswoman merely said, “We don?t comment on rumors or speculation.”

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