Ford Motor Company (F) has applied for a patent with a surprising new approach to repossessing vehicles.
It's a surprising, and somewhat dystopian idea.
The patent application involves a method for a car whose owner has missed payments to drive itself to a repo lot.
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The application, filed on Aug. 20, 2021 and currently still pending approval, first describes a feature that will lock an owner or lessee out of use of the car.
A message would be sent to an individual regarding delinquency of a payment.
"When an acknowledgment is not received within a reasonable period of time, the first computer may disable a functionality of a component of the vehicle or may place the vehicle in a lockout condition," the application says.
It then describes a scenario in which the vehicle being repossessed has self-driving capability.
"The vehicle can be an autonomous vehicle and the repossession system computer may cooperate with the vehicle computer to autonomously move the vehicle from the premises of the owner to a location such as, for example, the premises of the repossession agency, the premises of the lending institution, and impound pound, or any other pre-designated location," the application explains.
The patent contains drawings illustrating how computer systems communicating with the car's computer would work.
"Ford files patent for system that could remotely repossess a car," tweeted Ars Technica.
Before taking the ultimate repossession step, other measures might be taken to incentivize the driver of the car to make payments.
"There would be several warnings from the vehicle before the system initiated a formal repossession," The Drive reported. "If these warnings were ignored, the car could begin to lose functionality ahead of a repo. The first lost functions would be minor inconveniences like 'cruise control, automated window controls, automated seat controls, and some components of the infotainment system (radio, global positioning system (GPS), MP3 player, etc.).'
"The next level is more serious, and includes the loss of things like 'the air conditioning system, a remote key fob, and an automated door lock/unlock system.' Likewise, an 'incessant and unpleasant sound' may be turned on 'every time the owner is present in the vehicle,'" according to The Drive.
