While waiting for the new batch of electric cars from the BMW group, little by little, they are transcending some of the functionalities that the new products of the Bavarian house will incorporate.
What should be the new flagship of the German brand, the electric SUV iX, will be in charge of equipping the vehicle with a technology in which BMW and Apple have been working together from the Automobile Connectivity Consortium. Technology that will establish the specification of Digital Key 3.0 for UWB, providing a global standard for the automotive industry.
The Teutons are proud to pioneer the use of a smartphone converted to a vehicle key since 2018. BMW has since continued to advance the development and popularization of its digital key function, which is available to iPhone users.
In line with an element that is increasingly demanded by the consumer and that provides essential advantages when accessing a vehicle, the premium car manufacturer will present the BMW Digital Key Plus. A convenient and safe way to unlock and start your car without taking your iPhone out of your pocket or purse.
This service is based on Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology, found in the iPhone’s U1 chip. The BMW Digital Key Plus function will be launched for the first time with the all-electric BMW iX for Apple brand iPhones.
This technology is based on a short-range, high-bandwidth digital radio characterized by an exact radio frequency location with the highest possible security. UWB’s accuracy also ensures that replay attacks where the radio signal gets jammed or intercepted are impossible. In this way, the security of data transmission is improved, and access to the electric SUV to others’ friends is protected.
It remains to be seen if BMW will manage to break with one of the most anachronistic vestiges that remain in today’s cars as a relic of the old internal combustion engines that the car’s ignition key represents.