News JVTech A global automaker wants to stop deadbeats from getting into their own cars. A very tricky technique…
Published on 03/02/2023 at 09:20
Share :
In the automotive sector, as everywhere, it’s a bit of a race for innovation. And in this race, patents are very useful to stand out from the competition, especially when they highlight a technique that is as surprising as it is deceitful…
A legendary brand has filed a rather bizarre patent…
When talking about a pioneer in the automotive world, it is almost impossible not to talk aboutHenry Ford and his car brand. If today the automobile market is such a lucrative market, it is largely thanks to this gentleman. With the Ford T, the American manufacturer and its CEO have completely invented a new organizational model. (Fordism), based on the work of Frederick Winslow Taylor (Taylorism) and adding other principles such as the work of conveyor workers. For simplicity, it is to Ford that we owe the invention of assembly line work and production lines which have now become standard with (almost) all car manufacturers.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
And you know what ? Ford is still on the verge of revolutionizing the automotive industry, and this, more than a century after the success of the Ford T. A few days ago, as explained The Drivethe United States Patent Office has officially issued a document transmitted by Ford in 2021, entitled: “Systems and Methods to Repossess a Vehicle”. Although this formulation is a little complex to understand, it is in facta patent describing a system that could help banks recover their investment in case drivers stop paying for their vehicle self-name or semi-self-name.
If you don’t pay, your vehicle will leave you
If you are the proud owner of an electric car (or not), you probably know that the payments related to them are constantly increasing. And in all of this, it is the banks who are worried that one day buyers will increasingly default on loans or payments. Currently, when there is such a problem, the bank usually pays a towing company to pick up the vehicle in question from the owner. But with Ford’s patent, everything could change!
Photo Credit: Pixabay
As we explained to you a little above, this patent only concerns autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles (which should arrive on the market in the not so distant future). In the document shared by Ford at the United States Patent Office, it is thus understood that this patent provides that the vehicles move, themselves, far from the owner’s home to reach a car park, the side of a road, or even directly the pound (with a completely autonomous car) so that an agency can manage the recovery.
Reading these lines, you will surely say to yourself: “But what prevents the owner from getting into his car and taking control of it? ” Well, Ford has also planned the coup, since the doors will simply remain locked, preventing anyone from entering the vehicle and continuing to use it without paying.. Small precision, if the owner is faced with an emergency situation, the car can be opened to let the person or people return and go to the hospital (while being filmed to avoid “abuse”).
Photo credit: Ford
Of course, the car will not take its bundle, without warning, overnight. The latter will first gradually cut off access to certain options (air conditioning, infotainment system or electric seats) before starting to scream to warn the owner that he will soon no longer be in good standing. As you can imagine, Ford does not intend, for the moment, to include this patented system in its vehicles, for the simple reason that they are neither autonomous nor semi-autonomous. Nevertheless, we can only welcome the rather brilliant idea of the American manufacturer, which could well revolutionize the automotive industry in the near future.
