Ford Files Patent To Allow Self-Driving Cars To Drive Away From Owners Who Miss Payments

Ford Motors Co. has applied for a patent on a technology that would allow them to repossess cars remotely if the owner misses payments.

The patent filing, “Systems and Methods to Repossess a Vehicle,” outlines how autonomous or semi-autonomous cars could repossess themselves if not in a garage by driving to a nearby location to avoid confrontations between the repossessors and owners.

It also outlines how the system can direct a vehicle with autonomous or semi-autonomous capability to drive to a tow truck or a repossession lot if the owner does not respond to multiple notices.

If repossession costs more than the value of the vehicle, it could even drive itself to a scrapyard.

Despite seeming eerily dystopian, a Ford spokesman told the New York Post the company has “no plans to deploy this” technology as of right now and that submitting patents on new inventions is standard business procedure.