The essence of the patent application
Ford filed a patent application with the US Patent Office in August 2021, which was officially published on February 23, 2023, to streamline the foreclosure process. At least for the bank. The patent describes several ways to make life difficult for someone who has missed several car payments.
The patent clearly indicates that the system, which could be installed on any future vehicle in the automaker’s lineup with a connection to a data network, would be able to “disable” the functionality of one or more components of the vehicle.” Everything absolutely: from the engine to the air conditioner. For cars with autonomous or semi-autonomous driving, the system will be able to “move the car from one location to another, more convenient for a tow truck to tow the car, or move the car from the owner’s premises to a location such as a foreclosure agency’s premises” or, if the credit institution considers the “financial viability of carrying out the procedure for returning the collateral” unjustified, the car could drive itself to the dump. Imagine what ambitious goals the future patent owner sets for himself!
The uniqueness of Ford’s idea, as a revolution in the banking and automotive spheres
It’s worth noting that no other automaker has ever tried to patent a similar system, and what’s more, Ford’s patent doesn’t cite any other legal document to explain its idea. At the same time, the presence of a patent, after the registration is completed, does not mean that the company plans to implement such technology in its future cars, but everything is possible.
The first thing that lucky Ford owners need to know is that if your car is connected to the Internet in any way, this system can theoretically work on it. The statement also describes a “repossession computer” that could be installed on future cars to ensure the system works smoothly, but also notes that no additional equipment is required to be installed on the vehicle for it to function. “In some embodiments, the vehicle computer may be configured to perform some or all of the functions of the recovery system computer”. So, if your car already has an infotainment system set up to receive over-the-air updates, it can probably work without any physical changes.
Before the system initiates the formal repossession of the car, the car will receive several warnings. If these warnings are ignored, the vehicle may begin to lose functionality before recovery begins. The first lost features will be minor inconveniences such as “cruise control, automatic power windows, automatic seat controls and some infotainment system components (radio, global positioning system (GPS), MP3 player, etc.).”
The next level is more serious and includes the loss of things like “air conditioning system, remote key fob and automatic door locking/unlocking system”. In addition, a “continuous and unpleasant sound” can be activated “every time the owner is in the vehicle”.
If the car owner endures all this and the payment never arrives, they can be left without access to their car. The patent application states that “the recovery system computer can disable the door locking mechanism, thereby putting the vehicle in a locked state and preventing a person from entering the vehicle.” There are a few caveats to this, such as locking out the owner only on weekends or being able to use the vehicle in emergency situations. Indeed, the patent clearly states that if someone is suffering from something like a heart attack – the document mentions a heart attack situation several times – then the car can be unlocked. It said a car’s dash cam could be used in conjunction with a “neural network” to determine whether an emergency is legitimate.
However, in the end, the car will still be returned. Autonomous or semi-autonomous cars can make this process easier for the bank. First of all, it says that the car will use its on-board sensors to determine whether it is in a garage or not. If not, the car may, without the owner’s knowledge, take it back or drive somewhere nearby to avoid a confrontation with the tow truck. We quote the patent document of the Ford company:
“In some cases, the vehicle may be semi-autonomous, and the recovery system’s computer may cooperate with the vehicle’s computer in the semi-autonomous vehicle to autonomously move the vehicle from one location to another location that is more convenient for the tow truck to tow the vehicle. The first location may, for example, be located within the owner’s property (a garage or driveway, for example), and the second location may be outside the owner’s property (a public road, for example).
In some other cases, the vehicle may be autonomous and the collection system computer may cooperate with the vehicle computer to autonomously move the vehicle from the owner’s premises to a location such as, for example, a collection agency’s premises, a credit institution’s premises, penalty area or any other pre-determined place”.
What is the role of the landfill and will the new patent affect the price of cars
The landfill plays an important role. To paraphrase, the market value of the vehicle will be determined by the lending institution based on mileage, condition and/or certain costs associated with returning the vehicle (towing, storage, resale procedures, etc.). If the vehicle’s return would cost the bank more than it could sell for, then “the recovery system’s computer can work with the vehicle’s computer to autonomously move the vehicle from the owner’s premises to the junkyard”.
The fact that Ford predicts that one day autonomous cars will cost so little that it makes financial sense to take them to the scrapyard may hint at the nature of this patent. It may not be something the automaker plans to develop anytime soon. That being said, it’s troubling that Ford would be interested in this sort of thing at all, whether it’s just to protect the idea or not. The thought of your self-driving car driving off because you missed a payment isn’t very pleasant, and bear in mind that Ford also mentions “semi-autonomous” cars as potentially being able to support a similar system. Its current ‘Blue Cruise’ free-driving system may well be ‘semi-autonomous’.
As mentioned earlier, Ford is the only automaker trying to patent something like this. Other car companies are not officially considering making it easier for banks to foreclose. Let’s hope it stays that way for the sake of everyone who has missed a few car payments. However, we carefully follow the novelties, there will be a lot of interesting things waiting for us in the world of technology.
