Ford’s new patent for autonomous EV repossession sounds like a far-fetched AI movie plot with a few insurmountable problems.
The world of EVs is expanding bigger and faster than even Elon Musk could have envisaged. Now, Ford is firmly on the electric gravy train.The Blue Oval plans to invest more than $50 billion in electric batteries by 2026 and hit two million global EV capacity as well. By 2023, it plans to build 600,000 EVs including the Mustang Mach-E, Ford F-150 Lightning, and Transit EVs.
With a massive investment into electric cars, and the fact that America is facing massive delinquency in car loans, Ford is thinking of radical ideas, it seems, to protect its EVs from people who buy the cars but default on the auto loan or lease payments.
Ford has filed a patent for a radical idea, that of autonomous repossession for its EVs. If you default on payment, your Ford EV can drive itself back to the dealer. Here are the details about this dystopian Ford EV autonomous repossession idea, and the biggest problems with it…
Ford Has Filed A Patent For The Autonomous Repossession Of EVs
We’ve seen and heard just about every far-out dystopian tech idea in the movies, from sentient cars to killer AI and computers who want to take over the world. Wanting a piece of the AI pie, it seems, Ford is adding to the whole Orwellian feel with a 14-page patent application full of ideas that are a tad OTT.
In the document, Ford talks about a piece of tech that could change how repossession proceedings currently work. Ford is still keeping the legal side the same, and sane, with a default payment notice that goes out to the person who has missed a payment, stating the intent to repossess unless payment happens within a stipulated period. It’s the process after that goes a tad radical, as per Ford’s patent.
Since repossessions often lead to conflict and sometimes even violence, given that people don’t appreciate having their cars taken away, the vehicle will drive itself off, removing any human interaction. Even Ford EVs that don’t have fully autonomous driving will not be safe from automatic repossession, given that they will still be able to drive themselves a short and safe distance away, to make towing them back to the dealership easier. If it’s an older car, it’s more likely to end up in the junkyard, but that’s okay with Ford because if you want the car, you have to pay for it.
Ford’s Autonomous EV Repossession Idea Could Deter Buyers
On paper, the idea seems workable if horrific. Not paying for your Ford EV could miff it enough to lock you out and drive itself off, literally in a fit of anger. While repossession is an auto lender’s right, human interaction lets people have a little more time, given dire emergencies. With a car simply driving off, it could leave Ford open to a host of lawsuits with people suing the Detroit automaker over causes that don’t strain the imagination at all.
Ford’s patent, titled, “Systems and Methods to Repossess a Vehicle,” hasn’t been officially granted (yet) since the auto giant filed it a year and a half, ago, but it’s still a very real possibility. If this kind of autonomous repossession does not (hopefully) become the industry standard, then one simple solution to this Ford-created problem for consumers is not to buy Ford EVs, period. A drop in sales may change Ford’s radical ideas into something more traditional.
Of course, Ford is pleading the fifth on whether this tech would become the norm, with a statement by Ford spokesperson, Wes Sherwood, “We submit patents on new inventions as a normal course of business but they aren’t necessarily an indication of new business or product plans.”
Rather recently, Ford also announced that it was shutting down its plans for fully autonomous cars which kind of makes this patent a moot point.
Ford EVs Plan More Punishments In The Patent As Well
Ford’s autonomous repossession has other more innovative punishments planned as well. If you decide to drive off with the car and escape into the sunset, the car can snitch to the cops on you. We all know what happens to snitches…
Other ideas include a blaring alarm that will make you want the car to drive away, just so the noise stops. Other lesser “punishments” for delayed payments could include the car disabling its features, like air-conditioning, GPS, or even the radio. Not having the air-con in sweltering summer months is pretty much a method of torture in itself. However, this may open doors for Ford to Class A lawsuits.
A more severe punishment would be to lock out the driver of the car. Given that people need their cars to drive to work, the patents suggest that it would unlock the car during working hours, letting the consumer continue to retain an income to be able to make the payments. A rather complicated user-monitoring system suggests that the car unlocks in case of a medical emergency or such, but such ideas seem extremely far-fetched. But we guess time will tell if the patent will be passed and if the idea will ever see the light of day.
Sources: Fortune, uspto.gov, Gizmodo, CNN
