Unlock the car - a daily maneuver. Press the button and the vehicle opens. The current keyless entry and access systems are more modern: you only have to carry the key with you in your pocket and the vehicle recognizes the driver. There is no need to press a button because you can access the door handle with a simple pull and then start the engine with the start button. But the Swedes also find this a bit awkward: Since you always carry the smartphone with you anyway, it can also be used as a key and act as a keyless system. Opportunity or risk?
From 2017 it should be ready: Volvo, as the world's first manufacturer wants to present really keyless vehicles, where you only have to have the smartphone with you to open the doors or close and start the engine. The concept will be presented in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress, between the 22. and 25. February. Here is to be shown that it needs only one app for access and driving. The Bluetooth function of the smartphone establishes contact with the Volvo in order to recognize the corresponding mobile phone. Conveniently, several keys can be stored so that different Volvo vehicles can be used all over the world.
This can be very practical if you want to book and use a rental car, for example. When you arrive at the rental station, the digital key is already stored in the system. The app also shows the tenant the way to the car via GPS. Waiting times at the rental car counter are now a thing of the past, and personnel costs on site are also reduced. The system is also useful if you want to share the car with friends, family or colleagues because you can easily transfer the access via your smartphone.
"Instead of standing around in a parking lot all day, for example, cars can be used more often and more easily by other people if the owner so wishes",
says Henrik Green, Vice President Product Strategy & Vehicle Line Management at Volvo.
The first tests will start in the spring of this year in cooperation with the car sharing company “Sunfleet” based near Gothenburg Airport. The first fleet vehicles will then be equipped with the system from 2017. In the end, this new technology is just a logical further development. Car sharing platforms have already used apps to date, but the vehicles then had to be unlocked remotely. But this is how the beautiful new Internet age is finally being used sensibly.
But that's exactly the question: is the system really that useful? Smartphones are attackable and exposed to attacks by hackers. How fast can a more or less resourceful car thief gain access to the car? But you do not have to go that far. How fast is a cell phone stolen? So the thief not only has access to personal emails, photos and contacts, but now also a car free house with it. The app shows the way to the vehicle anyway. All that remains is to hope that the system is well thought out. For those who can not make friends with that, Volvo still offers a conventional key, which somehow feels like a car. And who once again drives with an old car that may even get along without a central locking, will appreciate the pure, unfiltered driving pleasure and the driving experience again.