It Looks Like Smart Phones Are Going To Kill Off The Key Fob
At the same time as making key fobs bigger and more complicated than ever, BMW is thinking of ditching them altogether. At the Frankfurt Motor Show, BMW board member Ian Robertson told Reuters that the Bavarian firm is mulling over the future of the key fob, given how many of its customers own a smart phone that can be loaded with the BMW App.
The app can be used to unlock many of the company’s more recent models, so as Robertson puts it, “how many people really need it [a key fob]?” It’s something already happening elsewhere in the industry, with a mobile phone app being the only way of unlocking and starting up the new Tesla Model 3. Then there’s Jaguar Land Rover, which is currently looking at facial recognition technology as the future of car access.
As far as BMW goes, it seems to be a question of when, rather than if fobs are consigned to the history books. “We are looking at whether it is feasible, and whether we can do it. Whether we do it right now or at some point in the future, remains to be seen,” Robertson concludes.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Meh I dont like the idea of charging keys lol
Can’t wait to people getting their cars stolen by a 12 year old kid who read an internet forum.
So you have no battery left on your 1200$ phone and you want to access your bimma. What do you do? You have 4 hours.
in the future, thieves will hack into your car instead of breaking in, so he can quietly do his/her magic instead of bothering with the breaking windows and crowbar nonsense
“my phone is dead, i need to go home now, oh wait…”
I don’t even have a smart phone…. but then I also don’t have a BMW. Problem solved.
What if your phone dies? Then you’ll be stranded.
What’s the point? Surely getting out a key fob and pressing a button is easier than getting your phone out, unlocking it, finding the app and unlocking it through there? Before manufacturers mindlessly implement technology, they need to think about whether there’s actually any benefit.
Imagine accesing your car with a phone. And now lets say that your phone slips out of your hand and breaks. How do you acces your car?
So now if your phone is stolen you also have to report a carjacking?