Carsharing is getting easier than driving one’s own car

Thanks to Invers, the market leader in carsharing technology, you can now open a carsharing vehicle and drive off – just by using the watch on your wrist. The company has in fact developed an app for the Apple smartwatch that combines all essential functions for car-share users.

To date, one had to use chip cards and smartphones, which are more inconvenient to handle than car keys, to obtain access to a vehicle enrolled in a car-share program. With the Invers app for smartwatches, one no longer even needs a car key because the digital key is “worn” around the wrist. As a result and compared to one’s own vehicle, carsharing has become more cost-effective, more practical, and more convenient. Available since April 2015, the Apple Watch, like the carsharing concept itself, has caught on like wildfire. More than 2.79 million units have been sold to date in the US alone.

The Invers app automatically recognizes a carsharing vehicle in the vicinity and provides users with immediate access to it. While driving, users receive live continuous updates and information about such things as the “open/closed” door status and fuel quantity. Communication between the smartwatch and the vehicle occurs almost in near real time. After arriving at the destination, the app indicates the duration, distance of the trip and the fee charged by the operator for the trip. The use of encrypted channels, like Bluetooth, ensures that secure and reliable communication is possible even in locations without mobile phone coverage, such as underground garages.

To enable these functions, the Apple Watch communicates with the Invers in-car technology inside the vehicle, thereby ensuring interaction with the Apple Watch or alternatively with smartphones, chip cards, or “smart” driver’s licenses bearing the LapID seal. Invers’ innovation is helping to further expand the use of carsharing and make it even more convenient for users in comparison to less environment-friendly and less cost-effective transportation means. The more people use carsharing, the better it is for user’s wallets and the environment.

Invers will introduce its carsharing app for the Apple Watch for the first time at the World Collaborative Mobility Congress to be held in Innsbruck at the end of June.