Toyota will test keyless car sharing
Skip Ad Ad Loading... x Embed x Share automotive/"_blank">automotive.com/category/cars/"_blank">Toyota will test a new car-sharing system next year that lets users unlock doors and start cars with their smartphones.USA TODAYGetaround.com co-founder Jessica Scorpio.(Photo: 2011 photo by Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY)Toyota will test a new car-sharing system next year that lets users unlock doors and start cars with their smartphones — no key required.
Toyota invented a box that turns your smartphone into a car key
automotive/"_blank">automotive.com/category/cars/"_blank">Toyota is jumping into the increasingly crowded car-sharing market, and it's doing it with a flair for innovation that helps explain why it's the world's biggest auto seller.The company invented a Bluetooth-enabled device called the Smart Key Box that allows users to unlock and start the engine of a car using just their smartphone.Here's how it will work: a vehicle owner who wants to make some money on the side lending their car to other people can install the Smart Key Box on their dashboard, no modification needed.
Toyota is testing a Smart Key Box that makes it easier to share your car with strangers
automotive/"_blank">automotive.com/category/cars/"_blank">Toyota is the latest car manufacturer looking into the sharing economy, thanks to its development of what it calls a "mobility services platform." The first product it's experimenting with is a Smart Key Box, which promises to transform vehicles so they can be shared with anyone using a mobile device.To test its theory and see if its Smart Key Box can gain any traction, Toyota has teamed up with Getaround, in a deal revealed last week, to form a strategic investment through its Mirai Creation Investment Limited Partnership.Beginning January 2017 in San Francisco, Getaround will leverage the car maker's technology in its vehicles, starting with select Lexus or Prius models, so drivers do not need to use physical car keys.