Ford patents car that can repossess itself and drive back to showroom

A brand new patent permits Ford to construct vehicles that take motion if the proprietor falls behind on funds by taking part in annoying sounds – and even driving themselves again to the vendor

By Matthew Sparkes

Ford has been granted a patent for a system that enables a automotive to repossess itself if its proprietor fails to maintain up with funds. The agency envisions the automotive driving itself again to the showroom – or to a scrapyard if the worth of the automotive is low. But a safety skilled warns that the proposed system might as a substitute be used to steal vehicles remotely.

The patent, which was filed in 2021 however granted solely final week, describes how the system would kick in if the automotive proprietor failed to answer messages informing them they had been falling behind with funds. At that time, a collection of measures would first be used to make the automotive disagreeable to drive, then inconceivable. Finally, as a final resort, the automotive would return itself to the showroom.

The system might start by disabling options similar to GPS navigation, the music system or the air con, as a way to create what the patent describes as a “certain level of discomfort” for the proprietor. If this doesn’t work, the patents suggests enabling the automotive to create an “incessant and unpleasant sound”, similar to a chime or beep, each time the proprietor will get inside.

The subsequent escalation could be to restrict entry to the automotive on sure days or at sure occasions, making it unusable for leisure at weekends, however permitting the proprietor to proceed attending to work and subsequently not harming their capability to finally pay for the automotive. The patent additionally suggests utilizing GPS to “geofence” sure areas through which the automotive could be unusable.

If all else fails, then the automotive may very well be instructed to drive itself to a location the place a ready tow-truck might choose it up, and even to drive itself all the way in which to a repossession storage space. If the mileage on the automotive is excessive and its situation is poor, then it might as a substitute be instructed to drive itself straight to a scrapyard for recycling.

Such a system would, in fact, require the automotive to be totally autonomous, which has been a persistent however elusive objective for automotive makers: it’s no extra potential to purchase a really self-driving automotive now than it was 15 years in the past. Ford itself not too long ago introduced that it was giving up on its objective of creating full self-driving expertise, at a value of $2.7 billion.

Ford didn’t reply to a request for touch upon the newly granted patent, however safety skilled Alan Woodward on the University of Surrey, UK, says that there could be safety dangers with such a system.

“It’ll be a brave vehicle manufacturer that builds this into their vehicle as standard,” he says. “I can imagine a car thief not just finding an unauthorised way into the system, but also socially engineering ‘authorised’ users to give them access.”