Future Ford Vehicles May Talk To Car Wash About Cleaning

Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for a car wash communication system that may be used in future Ford vehicles, Ford Authority has learned.

The patent was filed on February 9^th, 2021, published on September 24^th, 2024, and assigned serial number 12097826.

The Ford Authority Take

Vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-everything communication methods have become a central focus of Ford’s as of late, and we’ve seen this technology appear both in the real world and via some recently published patents. In the latter realm, Ford has introduced us to ideas such as an integrated goods and services ordering system, as well as an unmanned aerial vehicle sanitation system. Now, this newly published patent keeps that theme going with an interesting idea for a car wash communication system that may be used in future Ford vehicles, too.

As Ford points out in this patent, automatic car washes are convenient and – for some – necessary, if they have no way to wash their vehicles at home. Car washes typically offer different levels of cleaning at different prices, but don’t currently give drivers the option to have them focus on specific areas – for example, perhaps the front wheels have attracted a large amount of brake dust and need a little extra attention, while the roof may not need quite as much water or scrubbing to get clean.

Thus, this system aims to give automatic car wash users that sort of power via a system that would be capable of communicating directly with the automatic car wash itself. The car wash would know to focus extra attention on specific areas based on input from the driver, as well as the type of detergent it would use and the amount of water needed. It’s certainly an interesting idea, and one that may very well arrive and help somewhat revolutionize the automatic car was as we know it.