► Polestar launches digital key
► Mobile phone unlocks the car
► Plus new app functionality
Owners of the Polestar 2 can now use their mobile phone to unlock their car, as the Swedish electric specialists roll out a raft of digital updates over-the-air.
The digital key option is released in beta, letting owners use their smarthphone to unlock and start their car, harnessing 18 Bluetooth sensors in and around the doors and cabin to authenticate the user’s identity.
Polestar claims owners will neither have to tap their phone against a sensor nor have the app awake to operate the digital key. ‘The Polestar Digital Key is one of our most anticipated features, because the convenience of not having to carry a physical key is invaluable,’ said Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO. ‘Being able to use your phone as the key makes sense especially in an age where our phones take care of most of our daily needs already, and it’s the one device you always carry with you.’
Because the digital key system doesn’t use radio waves, like on traditional remote keys, it is not susceptible to so-called relay attacks by thieves who intercept and copy unlock codes of many well-known premium-brand vehicles.
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Polestar app: new functionality
The owners’ app has also been updated for all users, bringing new functionality including battery status updates, remote climate control operation and remote locking (features that most rivals – and indeed plug-in Volvos – have had for years).
Over-the-air updates have also improved the algorithm for judging the electric range of the Polestar 2 for more accurate distance-to-empty readings and improved functionality for wireless charging to support newer phones.
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