Ford abandons patent for tech that would've let lenders repossess your car remotely

January 2024: Actually, you know what...

Mike Stevens

In what seemed like 'news' breaking a month earlier than it should've, March 1 2023 brought word that Ford was trying to patent technology that would allow lenders to take complete remote control of a financed vehicle when payments fall into arrears.

You can scroll down to read that earlier story.

Now it appears to have given up, with the current status of the application – a public document – listed as 'abandoned' since October last year.

In truth, it's not uncommon for companies and inventors to file more patent applications than they intend to deliver on, effectively betting early that they might have cottoned onto a potential goldmine. A patent application simply means a claim has been staked, to continue the analogy.

According to technology publisher The Record, a Ford spokesperson said the company submits patent applications for new inventions and technologies "a normal course of business, but they aren’t necessarily an indication of new business or product plans".

March 1, 2023: Ford applies for patent on lender-friendly repossession tech for financed cars

Alex Affat

Documents submitted by Ford illustrate a system effectively allowing future autonomous cars to 'repossess' themselves in the event of successive missed payments.

The patent, filed to the United States Patent Office in August 2021 but made public in February 2023, is titled 'Systems and Methods to Repossess a Vehicle', and states that any future vehicle - in theory - with an over-the-air data (OTA) connection could yield Ford significant control of the ‘functionality of one or more components of the vehicle’.

4

As autonomous technology continues to develop (with Ford already having invested billions), the Detroit giant's patent explores the particular application of vehicle repossession.

The documents state that Ford systems could identify a vehicle due for repossession, and ‘move the vehicle from a first spot to a second spot that is more convenient for a tow truck to tow the vehicle... move the vehicle from the premises of the owner to a location such as, for example, the premises of the repossession agency’.

4

The vehicle could even autonomously pilot itself to its own demise at the scrapyard, if the lending institution deems the vehicle value to be less than the cost of ‘executing a repossession procedure’.

The document further speculates on how the systems could work, with several warnings delivered from the vehicle before a formal repossession performed. The next stage would perhaps include the remote disabling of functions at an increasing rate. In extreme cases, ‘the repossession system computer may disable the door lock mechanism... placing the vehicle in a lockout condition and preventing a person from entering’ the cabin.

4

Interestingly, the document explores various caveats, including, specifically, emergency situations such as the owner suffering a heart attack.

These are, like many patent submissions, extreme use cases with little representative weight of ever coming to production.

It's all possible in theory, however, with OTA updates and remote individual vehicle identification already possible in the technology suites of various manufacturers.

Nevertheless, its a dystopian twist on the hyper-connected and autonomous future many believe we are heading towards.