A patent filed in August of 2021, but published last week, shows that Ford intends to build a system that would cause “annoyances” or even drive itself to a repossession lot if the vehicle owner falls behind on payments, Business Insider reported.
In the patent application, the motor company stayed that a “repossession system computer” would cause the vehicle to provide “discomfort” after a few missed payments. It would start small, and would disable the functionality of features like cruise control, GPS, air conditioning, and the radio. They’re also experimenting with the vehicle emitting an “incessant and unpleasant sound” when it’s in use.
If the owner of the vehicle continues to miss payments, Ford is considering multiple different consequences, including locking the owner out on certain days of the week, and only permitting them to use the vehicle to go to and from work until the payments have been made. In more severe cases, the company has considered making their vehicles autonomously drive itself to a place “convenient for a tow truck to tow the vehicle,” or even to a repossession agency, or impound lot. If the cost of the repossession exceeds the worth of the car, it could possibly drive itself to a scrapyard.
There’s been no news on if these changes will be made, or if it’s just to protect an idea for in the future, but no other automakers have attempted to patent anything remotely similar.