Toyota Goes Keyless With Car Sharing
CARS.COM — Toyota is following the likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and GM into the world of car sharing thanks to a new partnership with San Francisco-based Getaround.
Related: Car-Sharing Showdown: GM’s Maven vs. Zipcar
Unlike other car-sharing companies, many of which own their fleet of vehicles, Getaround is a peer-to-peer service. Private car owners offer their own vehicles for use in the program in exchange for a cut of the profits earned from allowing subscribers access to their car. Imagine Couchsurfing or Airbnb on four wheels and you’ve grasped Getaround’s business model.
Toyota is adding a couple of unique twists to this venture, however. Called the Smart Key Box, the system allows Getaround users to lock, unlock and even start a vehicle simply by using their smartphones.
The Smart Key Box represents an important first step in a technology that could have applications far beyond starting and unlocking vehicles or processing car payments. Your car could become an extension of your smartphone and vice versa.
The technology used in the Getaround partnership might also allow Toyota to test and monitor cybersecurity measures as part of a growing concern that connected cars — especially models equipped with self-driving hardware — could be vulnerable to hacking.
Car owners will also be able to send money earned from car sharing directly to a monthly lease payment. In theory, your car could pay for itself — depending on how often it’s on the road. Getaround’s hourly rates start as low as $5, though users are free to charge more depending on the make and model of their car. Participating vehicles cannot be more than 10 years old and must have less than 125,000 miles on the odometer.
Toyota has reportedly put roughly $10 million into Getaround through a special investment fund controlled by the Japanese automaker. The Smart Key Box program is scheduled to begin early next year, initially in Lexus vehicles and Prius hybrids operating only in the San Francisco area.
Getaround is currently present in the Bay Area; Portland, Ore.; Chicago; and Washington, D.C. With approximately 200,000 users, the company is small compared to rivals like Zipcar, which counts around 1 million subscribers. Yet this partnership with Toyota has the potential to fuel Getaround’s expansion into other markets. It also gives Toyota a corporate foot in the door, so to speak, in the growing world of car-share businesses.
