Driving Dystopia: Ford Patent Would Have Vehicles Repossess Themselves

The fig of U.S. conveyance owners who are much than 59 days down successful their car indebtedness payments was 26.7 percent higher astatine the extremity of 2022 than they were astatine the extremity of 2021. This is owed to a myriad of factors. Car payments person gotten larger, indebtedness presumption person increased, ostentation has devalued the currency, and subprime borrowers are uncovering themselves connected the incorrect extremity of a widening wealthiness gap. 

While automotive repossessions declined during the pandemic, chiefly owed to lenders offering amnesty periods, they’ve likewise spiked done the extremity of 2022. This inclination is assumed to continue, mounting up a batch of concern for repo men. However, Ford Motor Co. has patented a strategy that would efficaciously marque vehicles unresponsive to drivers that person missed a fewer payments. Meanwhile, automobiles boasting the latest precocious driving technologies could allegedly repossess themselves. 

It doesn’t look that Ford really has a moving prototype, just a wide premise of however things would operate. But this is the benignant of happening radical started fretting implicit the 2nd the automotive manufacture started harping connected conveyance connectivity and redefining what constitutes “ownership.” Conspiracy theories astir automakers harvesting lawsuit information oregon the constabulary remotely disabling automobiles were initially dismissed arsenic ludicrous. However, the erstwhile contented is present a verifiable information with the second premise gradually gaining credibility. Ford’s patent adjacent highlights however connected vehicles would beryllium simultaneously networked to lending institutions, repossession agencies, and the police. 

The patent papers was submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) successful August 2021. But Ford’s “Systems and Methods to Repossess a Vehicle” wasn’t formally published until February 23rd of this year. We cognize of it due to the fact that Steph Willems (TTAC legend) shared a study from The Drive referencing the patent filing. 

From The Drive: 

It explicitly says the system, which could beryllium installed connected immoderate aboriginal conveyance successful the automaker's lineup with a information transportation would beryllium susceptible of "[disabling] a functionality of 1 oregon much components of the vehicle." Everything from the motor to the aerial conditioning. For vehicles with autonomous oregon semi-autonomous driving capability, the strategy could "move the conveyance from a archetypal spot to a 2nd spot that is much convenient for a tow motortruck to tow the vehicle... determination the conveyance from the premises of the proprietor to a determination specified as, for example, the premises of the repossession agency," or, if the lending instauration considers the "financial viability of executing a repossession procedure" to beryllium unjustifiable, the conveyance could thrust itself to the junkyard.No different automakers person precocious attempted to patent a akin system, and so the Ford patent doesn't notation immoderate different ineligible papers for the involvement of clarifying its idea. All of this being said, patent documents, particularly applications similar this one, bash not needfully correspond an automaker's intent to present the described feature, process, oregon exertion to its vehicles. Ford mightiness conscionable beryllium attempting to support this thought for the involvement of doing so. The papers does spell into a batch of item arsenic to however specified a strategy mightiness work, though.

The strategy is expected to enactment connected conscionable astir immoderate automobile susceptible of over-the-air updates. Though the papers does marque notation of repossession computers that could beryllium installed connected immoderate models connected to the internet. That portion seems similar it would beryllium comparatively casual to defeat, arsenic you could conscionable region the container from immoderate it’s connected to. However, much modern vehicles aren’t expected to request immoderate outer hardware since the preexisting computers tin conscionable beryllium reconfigured implicit the internet. 

Implementation is presumed to vary, with the study stating that drivers could beryllium issued warnings arsenic assorted features of the conveyance are disabled to promote payment. But things get beauteous dystopian from there. The archetypal features to spell would beryllium “cruise control, automated model controls, automated spot controls, and immoderate components of the infotainment strategy (radio, planetary positioning strategy (GPS), MP3 player, etc.)” and they would beryllium followed by "the aerial conditioning system, distant cardinal fob, and an automated doorway lock/unlock system” going connected the fritz. 

If those headaches are not capable successful forcing the operator to wage disconnected their debt, the papers suggests that an "incessant and unpleasant sound" could beryllium played whenever the proprietor is wrong the vehicle. 

The adjacent measurement is simply a full-blown lockdown of the conveyance until outgo is received oregon the lender decides to person it repossessed. 

While the patent filing does suggest that the conveyance could inactive beryllium utilized for exigency situations, determining what constitutes a valid exigency could beryllium near up to the vehicle’s onboard camera strategy and immoderate the lender decides to marque exceptions for. Otherwise, you’ll beryllium locked retired of your car for nonpayment – arsenic the papers states that "the repossession strategy machine whitethorn disable the doorway fastener mechanism, thereby placing the conveyance successful a lockout information and preventing a idiosyncratic from entering a compartment of the vehicle."

Something similar this has existent imaginable to prevention businesses wealth connected repo men since the gradual removal of features and past consequent lockouts are bound to promote payment. But the invasiveness of the full procedure, which suggests leveraging onboard cameras to efficaciously spy connected drivers, is astir beyond content – and we haven’t adjacent gotten to the truly chaotic worldly yet. 

Ford’s patent has a conception wherever a car that’s astir to beryllium repossessed takes successful its surroundings to find whether oregon not it tin beryllium easy accessed by the repo team. In immoderate cases, the conveyance would adjacent thrust itself to a adjacent determination to debar confrontation with the owner. However, thing similar this would necessitate the car to person immoderate of the latest precocious driving immunodeficiency and thing akin to a summon feature.

From the USPTO document: 

In immoderate cases, the conveyance tin beryllium a semi-autonomous conveyance and the repossession strategy machine whitethorn cooperate with the conveyance machine successful the semi-autonomous conveyance to autonomously determination the conveyance from a archetypal spot to a 2nd spot that is much convenient for a tow motortruck to tow the vehicle. The archetypal spot may, for example, beryllium located wrong the spot enactment of the proprietor (a store oregon a driveway, for example) and the 2nd spot whitethorn beryllium extracurricular the spot enactment (a nationalist road, for example).In immoderate different cases, the conveyance tin beryllium an autonomous conveyance and the repossession strategy machine whitethorn cooperate with the conveyance machine to autonomously determination the conveyance from the premises of the proprietor to a determination specified as, for example, the premises of the repossession agency, the premises of the lending institution, an impound pound, oregon immoderate different pre-designated location.

There are adjacent provisions to person older vehicles thrust themselves straight to the junkyard if the applicable institutions crunch the numbers and determine it doesn’t marque fiscal consciousness to enactment the car backmost connected the market. That makes it look similar Ford is looking mode into the aboriginal for the imaginable applications of this system. But determination are surely aspects of it that could beryllium implemented contiguous – with The Drive making nonstop notation of the brand’s existent Blue Cruise hands-free driving system. 

Keeping successful caput that a batch of patent filings ne'er spell anyplace and virtually conscionable beryllium truthful a concern tin beryllium connected a coagulated ineligible footing for consequent intelligence spot disputes, it’s inactive benignant of terrifying that this benignant of worldly is adjacent connected an automaker’s mind. Here’s hoping this conception ends up being excessively costly to instrumentality and that we each negociate to amended ourselves connected however to disconnect our vehicles from the internet.

The implicit patent filing is available here.

[Images: Proxima Studio/Shutterstock; USPTO]

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