Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for multiple drones that could be used to jump-start vehicles with a dead battery.
Key Details
- The patent was published on March 28 and assigned serial number 11614063, according to Ford Authority.
- New Ford vehicles will be able to transmit a jump-start request along with the vehicle’s current location when stranded, which one or more drones will receive.
- The autonomous drones will fly to the stranded vehicle, open the hood, connect with its battery, and provide a boost, allowing the vehicle to resume driving.
Why it’s news
A broken-down vehicle where there is little car travel can be dangerous, but soon Ford drivers will have a solution.
Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for multiple drones that could be used to jump-start Ford vehicles with a dead battery focusing specifically on drivers in rural areas.
Ford has filed several recent drone-related patents, including a jump-start system using drones to charge Ford vehicles and external jump-start battery terminal hookups, but the latest publishing combines the two.
New Ford vehicles will come equipped with a signal that transmits the problem and location to nearby drones when the batteries cut out, and the car dies. The drone will then fly out to the stranded vehicle, open the hood, and boost the battery, allowing the motorist to resume the trip.
While in most cases, there is another motorist around to help jump-start a stranded vehicle, many drivers commute in rural areas with slow vehicle traffic and, without the help of the drone, could be stranded for extended periods of time.
Other Ford News
Ford has been pushing ahead with electric vehicle (EV) production announcing a $5.6 billion manufacturing plant that can produce half a million trucks annually.
The factory known as BlueOval City, located in Stanton, Tennessee, is expected to open in 2025 and make 500,000 electric trucks yearly—40% more than the company’s original goal.
The factory will make a quarter of the 2 million EVs Ford plans to build each year by the end of 2026.
The company is attempting to build its EV presence to compete with forerunner Tesla by investing $50 billion into developing and manufacturing EVs by 2026.
Ford has set a goal of an 8% margin on EV earnings before interest and taxes by 2026, according to Bloomberg.