Science Future Ford Vehicles Could Repossess Themselves - Oy vey

Future Ford Vehicles Could Repossess Themselves | ZeroHedge

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Ford Motor Company filed a US patent application that shows autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles could potentially repossess themselves if their owners miss lease or loan payments.

The idea of self-driving cars repossessing themselves might sound dystopian, but it is not surprising that automakers are considering this technology to ensure payment. Repossession is a common practice, and as we've described recently, cracks are beginning to form in the subprime auto loan market (read: here & here).

While this patent application was first filed in Aug. 2021 and formally published on Feb. 23, it could be years before Ford implements such a technology.

The patent, titled "Systems and Methods to Repossess a Vehicle," explains how a future lineup of Ford vehicles would be capable of "[disabling] a functionality of one or more components of the vehicle."

If a driver misses a car payment, the vehicle will disable air conditioning, radio, GPS, and cruise control to irritate the driver.

If the owner misses more payments, the repossession cycle will worsen. The car would emit an "incessant and unpleasant sound." Worse, the vehicle might lock out the driver on certain days until payments are made.

And still, if the lockout doesn't work and payments are missed, the vehicle could drive to a safe, nearby location for a repo team to seize it and avoid confrontation with the owner.

It is worth noting that filing a patent application does not necessarily mean the technology will be implemented, but the takeaway is a glimpse of the dystopic future.

 

[FILTH Tourist]

I can see a lot of old Cold War-era designs like the Ural-4320, UAZ-469, and the Willys Jeep making a massive comeback in the consumer market, or people making their own versions of them. Simple, easy to manufacture and maintain automobiles with no frills that are also easy to field-modify as the owner sees fit.

There is a ton of regulations on what specs new cars must have and I don't think it would be legally possible to create a "dumb" car anymore that can be easily maintained. There's only so many old cars to go around and that number is dwindling everyday.

 

[DeadwastePrime]

counterpoint, i lock the car in a garage while booting it, making it unable to escape my clutches

 

[The Foxtrot]

There is a ton of regulations on what specs new cars must have and I don't think it would be legally possible to create a "dumb" car anymore that can be easily maintained. There's only so many old cars to go around and that number is dwindling everyday.

If we get to this point shown in the article, I doubt people will give a shit anymore.

 

[FILTH Tourist]

If we get to this point shown in the article, I doubt people will give a shit anymore.

Oh I'm sure there will be a big aftermarket and jailbreaks to deal with this. I was thinking of a brand new auto company that specializes in building simple cars.

 

[Grub]

So basically any Soviet-era design/example would be fine.

Probably?

Oh I'm sure there will be a big aftermarket and jailbreaks to deal with this. I was thinking of a brand new auto company that specializes in building simple cars.

A big part of the problem is regulations. Emissions laws, mpg regulations and safety regulations for new vehicles. Even if a company wanted to build simple vehicles without computers and sensors and all that, there's a good chance they wouldn't legally be able to sell them in a lot of places.

 

[Smug]

counterpoint, i lock the car in a garage while booting it, making it unable to escape my clutches

You might not even need a garage to trap one in theory. Just a spray-painted linoleum mat could do the trick.

 

[Duke Nukem]

With corposhits trying to ruin driving once and for all, maybe it's fine time we revert to horse drawn carts.

Fuck this dystopia and every scumbag who wants it to be a reality.

 

[Larry Potterfield]

The compression ratio in diesel engines is much higher than gasoline engines. A gasoline engine block would split and crack under the heat and pressure that diesel engines operate under. Diesel engines are built out of thicker stronger metal than gasoline engines.

GM actually tried to make a number of diesel engines based on a gas engine without changing much of the tooling and basic design. It ended up being a massive piece of shit and destroyed the reputation of diesel cars in the U.S. so much that it never really recovered.

Diesel engines, IIRC, with the right filters can run on vegetable oil.

If you have a diesel made before the new emissions standards, it's pretty easy to run on alternate fuels. New diesels, I doubt you can. Modern diesels run like shit from the factory, though.

 

[The Last Stand]

You will own nothing and like it.

 

[Snekposter]

With corposhits trying to ruin driving once and for all, maybe it's fine time we revert to horse drawn carts.

Fuck this dystopia and every scumbag who wants it to be a reality.

Who knew the Amish would be getting the last laugh?

Well, aside from them obviously given how stubbornly they've kept to some of their ways despite the modern world doing its best to tempt them.

 

[DeadwastePrime]

GM actually tried to make a number of diesel engines based on a gas engine without changing much of the tooling and basic design. It ended up being a massive piece of shit and destroyed the reputation of diesel cars in the U.S. so much that it never really recovered.

gm proving once again theyre shit at making cars

 

[Zbk3VmLfujjzjxBd43tL]

If I had money and engineering know-how, I'd make and market a car called the Boomer. It would feature no electronics whatsoever (besides maybe shit that was standard even 20-30 years ago) and have lots of wood panelling and other things boomers love in their cars, but it would have the safety features and fuel efficiency of modern cars. I'd make pickup truck and SUV versions for boomers who prefer those too.

That's the ideal sort of car, and someone who can find a way to market them will be fucking rich, because I know I'd buy one. I bet these would be very cheap by new car standards because it would lack the "features" that bloat out every modern vehicle. Too bad in 15-20 years it won't be legal to sell because it isn't an electric vehicle and wouldn't get 50+ MPG (yes, that's what the government said the fuel economy has to be in the mid-2030s).

 

[WhiskeyJack]

...is there any way to convert a gasoline engine to run on diesel or veggie oil?

Not really. However, basically any gasoline ICE will run on methanol or woodgas, which you can make from any cellulose-based plant, like wood chips, sawdust, even straw. It’s about 60% as powerful per gallon as gasoline. In WWIII farmers made their own woodgas to run equipment, so it’s not a really complicated process.

I expect to see a shift towards methanol fuel in the auto industry eventually, as it’s clean burning and could be made from algae in an industrial scale. And a lot more practical than electric cars will ever be.

You can actually get diesel to burn woodgas as well but you need some diesel to get it running first.

 

[Grub]

GM actually tried to make a number of diesel engines based on a gas engine without changing much of the tooling and basic design. It ended up being a massive piece of shit and destroyed the reputation of diesel cars in the U.S. so much that it never really recovered.

Yeah it's a pretty good real world example of what I was talking about.

Oldsmobile left the head bolt design and pattern unchanged to enable them to use the same tooling as for the gasoline engines, unlike a proper gasoline to diesel conversion.[2] This led to catastrophic head bolt failures as diesel engines have compression ratios that are as much as three times higher than a gasoline engine.[2]

 

[Bugman's Burden]

Jailbreaking computer software/operating systems in future cars and trucks is going to become a very very lucrative black market if this his how the corpos are going to treat their customer base. That, or gutting computer systems completely in favor of pure automotive analog options.

Do you have a loicense to jailbreak that car? Just kidding. We know you don't because even if you dropped the $39,000 cash to buy it outright, you still don't own it because of proprietary computer shit we built into it. Maybe we'll just cut you off from the power grid like Tesla does when they detect unauthorized work!

You don't like it? Tell the automobile factory to make a pure ICE car, despite the fact that we've completely outlawed that and the banks will pull the rug out from them quicker than you can unlock your phone!

 

[Cheesegirl78]

Diesel engines are great. They're reliable, they last forever and they can burn a bunch of different fuels, including vegetable oil and you can make diesel out of pretty much any kind of oil in your backyard with the right equipment. The process isn't actually that difficult. There's lots of videos out there of people showing different setups and techniques, usually using used vegetable oil from restaurants.

California passed a law that has basically left owners of ALL diesel vehicles 25 years old unable to register the cars. Any car with a diesel engine made before 1997 cannot be registered in the state, and therefore is illegal to drive.
Know a few people with diesel trucks that cannot drive their vehicles any longer.
Fuck Gavin Newsom and his stupid green laws.

 

[Toolbox]

Reminder that if you want self driving without buying shit on wheels from any of these manufacturers, you can modify existing vehicles with openpilot/comma ai.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

Don't teslas already require an app to charge? Just make them unable to log in since it seems humanity has decided that a 2 ton Jeep is better for the environment than a 700kg medium small car.

And it's pretty obvious this feature will primarily be used to punish wrongthinkers rather than an economic benefit.

 

[Hightension]

Good luck getting the patent through for this.

 

[Otterly]

So it's push-button kikery instead of the old fashioned paperwork variety. That banker could always send a tow truck and bill you for your trouble. This is a corruption issue and nothing to do with the method of repossession.

The issue is that you’ve said something very naughty, citizen and now your driving privileges are revoked. Or you’ve driven too many miles this week, and now we are shutting your car down for muh climate. Or you’ve driven in Oxford through too many 15 min zones this week and we are charging you (the last one is proposed in England…)
I object to all forms of repressive and controlling and dehumanising tech. It doesn’t stop the untermensch from fucking stuff up it just hits the law abiding.