Sterantis developing heated wheel well liners

Sterantis is seeking a patent to heat wheel wells to prevent snow and ice buildup during winter driving.

This feature is described in a patent application published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on October 31, 2024, but filed by Sterantis on April 25, 2023. As described in this application, it relies on an electric heating element embedded in the wheel well and requires a wire or other connection to provide power from the vehicle.

The heating element is sandwiched between the vehicle body and the wheel well liner, and the latter is exposed to the elements to protect the heating element and its wiring. According to Sterantis, heat passes through the wheel well liner to melt ice and snow.

Automakers are also working on conductive films for heating elements, which can be applied directly to a given surface.

As Sterantis notes in its application, snow and ice can accumulate and form large chunks. These can break off unexpectedly and cause unpleasant surprises to following drivers, cover cameras and sensors used in driver assistance systems, and damage deployable side steps such as those on Sterantis' Ram pickup trucks.

Not all patent ideas make it to production, but this could be a fairly simple yet practical feature, unlike the deployable front seat table that Sterantis recently tried to patent.