Chinese carmaker Changan has filed a patent with its home authorities for what it calls a “vehicle foot washing device” – and it’s as bonkers as it sounds. 

So how does Changan’s in-car foot spa work?

The designs for an automated car foot spa that extends from underneath the front seats to give a fully automated wash to your tired tootsies if you’re sitting in the back of the car. 

It’s connected to the car’s infotainment system so you can control it using in-car systems or your phone, and it fills the basin with heated water, massages your feet using rotating rollers built into the base, drains the water and even disinfects the bowl using UV lighting inside the seat. 

Won’t all the water come out?

Changan’s scientists are way ahead of you – the design incorporates anti-sloshing measures to stop the water escaping so you don’t have to worry about going round corners and undoing all the relaxation you’ve managed so far. 

The car foot back design has divides within the main container that prevent water flowing too freely, as well as holes in the base that allow water to move underneath the container. 

Meanwhile, the basin itself is held on arms that are fitted with anti-shock tech that keeps the whole thing steady on the move. 

Will Changan actually put a heated foot spa in one of its cars?

This is just a patent application rather than confirmation that the feature is going to appear on one of Changan’s cars. 

It was applied for under the Deepal brand name rather than Changan’s – it’s a separate sub-brand in China and other territories, but its cars are marketed underneath the Changan brand in the UK. 

It’s the sort of crazy feature you might expect to find in a range-topping luxury SUV (like the Xiaomi SkyNomad N90 and its pop-top roof), which Deepal has in the form of the S09, which is available with rear captain’s chairs, an onboard fridge and a fold down rear cinema screen. 

In the UK, meanwhile, we get the Changan Deepal S05, which will let you play music through the car's external speaker and has V2L capability so you can at least run a foot spa off the car's battery.