For example the F-150. The Ford pickup truck is very popular in the United States. Few Americans have to transport a dead cow in their lifetime, but you could. The huge car is new for under $40,000. If you don’t have one, take out a loan. But what if at some point you find it difficult to pay the installments? Then, in the worst case, it happens repossession, in German: repossession. That means: The lender gets the car.
It is obvious that this often leads to ugly scenes. The car manufacturer Ford has therefore already prepared a patent for a future in which modern technology could elegantly deal with the disputes with the towing company. The on-board computers of the cars should according to the patent be expanded in such a way that the car can be taken over from afar.
First, however, the bank can point out to the defaulting payers that they would like to pay their installments. Long-lasting, annoying warning tones plus a corresponding message on the display can be part of it. But also measures such as switching off the air conditioning, the entertainment system or that the car can no longer be locked and unlocked by radio remote control and the owner has to fiddle with the key in the lock as before.
All this initially only limits the convenience. If that doesn’t work either, the automaker keeps the option open of locking the car completely – unless it’s a medical emergency. For this purpose, a connection to a medical emergency facility should be used to clarify whether the car can be released for this – and only for this.
Get ready for the tow truck
The highest level of escalation is reached when the car owners do not react at all to several warnings. Then the car could be towed. And because Ford knows that it’s not always that easy, for example when the car is on private property, they have a solution ready for that too. In such a case, the automatic driving functions could be used remotely. The car would then be driven off the property by remote control so that it could be transported by the tow truck to the detention station. Or it could drive to a place where the tow truck staff has an easier time.
Anyone who is already nervously looking at the account balance can sit back and relax. Self-towing of cars will not happen any time soon. Ford had already applied for the patent in 2021, and it was published at the end of February 2023. In the meantime, it has become increasingly clear that autonomous driving could still take a while. A start-up that developed technology for self-driving cars and in which Ford and VW had invested a lot of money announced in October 2022 that it would cease operations.
However, it is not entirely illusory. In Berlin, for example, the start-up Vay is working on having rental cars brought to the customer by professional drivers – by remote control. The first are already driving in Hamburg.