Patent Suggests Friends Of Ford Owners Could Buy OTA Upgrades For Their Cars

Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for OTA upgrades that friends can buy for Blue Oval model owners that may be used in future Ford vehicles, Ford Authority has learned.

The patent was filed on April 2^nd, 2024, published on October 17^th, 2024, and assigned serial number 0346858.

The Ford Authority Take

Over the past three to four years, Ford has leaned heavily into connected vehicle technology and over-the-air software updates, which can be used to deliver fixes for various problems or even upgrades and special features. Most recently, those features include things like Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free highway driving assist function, as well as a performance upgrade for the 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E GT that gives it a considerable boost in output. Soon, if this newly published patent comes to fruition, friends and family of Ford owners may be able to purchase those upgrades as a gift, too.

In a world where we can already buy digital gift cards, subscriptions, software, and various other types of electronic items for that purpose, such an idea makes a ton of sense. In this case, Ford envisions a future where customers can go online, enter a vehicle’s information, and then view a list of available updates/upgrades for that particular model, much like any regular old shopping experience. If they find one they’d like to gift to someone, they would be able to purchase it and have it delivered via an over-the-air update.

Here, we can even see that a personalized message pops up on a vehicle’s infotainment screen, wishing them a happy birthday and outlining the feature, along with the person that gifted it to them. Though this is one of many, many patents that Ford has filed in recent times, it may very well be the most likely to actually make it to reality – mainly because it could be see as a benefit not only to owners and their friends or family, but also, quite profitable for the automaker itself.