Missed your car payment? Future cars could self-drive to impound lot

The automotive industry is undergoing a significant transformation as it transitions to electric and digital technologies that offer many benefits, including reduced carbon emissions, enhanced safety, and greater convenience. Recently, Ford applied for a patent on a connected car technology system that aids in vehicle repossession when payments are delinquent.

Before the car drives itself away, there would be a series of steps and annoyances that the delinquent payers would have to go through. Here's a step-by-step on what could be the future of autonomous cars.

The first step in this procedure would involve the owner receiving badgering messages on their smartphone or inside the car's screen. These messages would demand either an acknowledgement or immediate payment. If the owner persists in ignoring the messages, the car would begin to execute a multi-step repossession procedure.

The second step in this procedure involves making the owner pay in other ways. Features like air conditioning, cruise control, or the radio could stop working. If that doesn't work, the vehicle could become even more irritating. For instance, the stereo might be programmed to emit an incessant and unpleasant sound every time the owner is present in the vehicle.

If these steps don't work, the car would then make itself unusable by refusing to unlock its doors. However, in cases where the borrower needs to drive to work to earn the money to pay back the loan, the car could be restricted to only allow travel to work or other essential activities, such as grocery shopping or dropping the kids off at school.

Furthermore, in cases of medical emergencies, the car could be enabled to drive itself to the nearest emergency room or coordinate with emergency medical personnel to meet at a specific location. However, once the emergency is resolved, the car would go back to locking out its owner.

Finally, in the most extreme scenario of non-payment, the car would receive an over-the-air command to quit its owner. If the car isn't capable of fully self-driving in traffic, it would move itself to a place where it would be easy for a tow truck to retrieve it, such as the edge of a street.

Ford's patent represents a nightmare scenario for the connected-car future, where external software controls where we go, what we do, and how we do it. While Ford stated that it has no plans to deploy this system, it is still concerning that they are coming up with high-tech ways to hit owners back if they cannot pay up.

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