When it comes to purchasing a vehicle, several options are available to you: a cash purchase, which, however, is rarely practiced by motorists, a classic loan or even leasing, be it a call option or long-term.
Using these latest solutions involves paying monthly fees, and it is not uncommon for subscribers to become redundant over time bad payers. In this case, the creditor may be obliged remove the vehiclebut in some cases it is not easy the client refuses to cooperate Example.
Ford: patent for returning unpaid cars
It is to find a solution to these cases that Ford recently filed a patent in the United States titled “Systems and methods of removing a vehicle” : or in French systems and methods for remove the vehicle.
In this long document, the Ford team brainstormed ideas that would allow them to find a car in the event of a default. And here it is the most modern automotive technologiesalways connected.
The American manufacturer plans, for example, to remotely disable the functionality of the car, “punish” its driver and make it difficult to use the vehicle. This is, for example, the case of cruise control, infotainment or air conditioning, not to mention the case when Ford may decide to stop traffic and lock the car remotelyto deny access.
Ford: the car can return itself
The blue oval firm also plans to use the autonomous driving functions of its models to drive the vehicle automatically from the place of its placement to the premises of the body responsible for its removal.
Also mentioned is the fact of moving the car several meters in order to load it into a truck and transport it to the place of his choice. But Ford thought even about extreme cases: in fact, if the procedure to restore the car costs more than its cost, it can also be moved autonomously to the most broken closure!
As always, the publication of a patent by a manufacturer does not mean that these features will be implemented in the near future. But it gives us a good idea of what the manufacturer will be able to do with the next generation of fully connected and autonomous cars, provided that legislation let him…
Source: US Patent and Trademark Office
Source: Auto Plus
Robert is an experienced journalist who has been covering the automobile industry for over a decade. He has a deep understanding of the latest technologies and trends in the industry and is known for his thorough and in-depth reporting.