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Volvo

Volvo wants to replace car keys with smartphones

Chris Woodyard
USA TODAY
Volvo Cars says smartphones will take the place of keys, starting in 2017

Volvo plans to start selling cars without keys beginning in 2017, using smartphones as replacements.

In effect, Volvo says the Bluetooth-enabled smartphone would become the "digital keys" and there would no longer be a need for a physical key.

“Our innovative digital key technology has the potential to completely change how a Volvo can be accessed and shared. Instead of sitting idle in a parking lot the entire day, cars could be used more often and efficiently by whoever the owner wishes,” says Henrik Green, vice president for product strategy at Volvo Cars, in a statement.

If Volvo's plan works, it would become only the latest in a series of moves in recent years that have struck a blow against the traditional metal key. Even the cheapest subcompacts these days often come with electronic key fobs instead of metal keys. Though they can be expensive to replace, the fobs — in combination with start buttons — eliminate the danger that a key can become stuck or break off in the ignition lock.

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The smartphone would be used just like today's key fob, or a metal key. It could not only start the car, but unlock the doors and trunk. The same device would be able to handle multiple digital keys — one for every Volvo car in the family.

If a relative or friend wants to borrow the car, the owner could electronically send the key to their smartphone. And at rental car counters, it wouldn't be set of metal keys sliding across the counter. Rather, it would be the silent electronic signal to the renter's smartphone, giving them the "keys."

Volvo says it will try out the technology starting this spring using the car-sharing firm that operates out of the Gothenburg, Sweden, airport. Volvo's worldwide headquarters is in Sweden.

A limited number of commercially available cars will be equipped with the new digital key technology in 2017.

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