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Geotab Keyless Solution for Car Sharing Fleets

fleetnewsdaily | October 21, 2020

World’s leading telematics provider integrates secured digital key function with comprehensive telematics data product to maximize fleet ROI

Geotab, a global leader in IoT and connected transportation unveiled Geotab Keyless, one of the world’s first platform solutions that integrates a secured digital key function with a comprehensive and data-driven fleet management product. Announced at the company’s third annual Geotab Mobility Connect conference, this combined solution is enabling a new class of car sharing by allowing public, corporate, leasing and government fleets to better analyze, pool, utilize and reduce their assets.

“We are proud to be the first fully-featured telematics provider bringing a unique data-driven, keyless solution to the burgeoning car sharing market,” said Christopher Mendes, VP, Electric Vehicles at Geotab. “Keyless vehicle access is critical not only for fleets seeking to improve cost and operational structures but also consumers, who are moving away from vehicle ownership and expecting an easier, more convenient driving experience.”

According to a 2019 research report from Berg Insights, worldwide car sharing membership topped 50.4 million in 2018, with the report citing frontrunners including Germany, Italy, USA and South Korea. As the Latin American market continues to rapidly grow, numbers are forecast to hit approximately 227 million by the end of 2023. Berg Insights also notes that several car makers, leasing companies and car rental companies are introducing car sharing solutions for corporate customers, with a goal to reduce mobility costs for enterprises by decreasing fleet capacity and the need for taxis and rental cars, while enabling self-booking and keyless access. Telematics and smartphones will play a pivotal role.

“Geotab Keyless is designed to enhance car sharing across every segment, including in-car delivery services in the future” added Mendes. “Keyless is particularly advantageous for electric vehicle (EV) car sharing fleets, as the solution can reliably manage vehicles’ state of charge (SOC), charging status and range remaining —a capability no other keyless hardware competitor possesses.”

A simple-to-install, scalable platform solution, Geotab Keyless supports any make, model and year of vehicle that has a key fob, and provides access to the most extensive telematics data on the market including asset accounting, suitability analysis for corporate car sharing, vehicle management automation and remote vehicle management. Fleet customers interested in implementing Geotab Keyless as part of their fleet management program can choose to pair their Geotab telematics solution with a vehicle reservation system software partner of their choice in order to best meet their individual business needs. Current global software partners for Geotab Keyless include Wunder Mobility, Ridecell, fleetster, Eccocar and Moove Connected Mobility. Alternatively, fleet customers can opt to create their own reservation software using Geotab’s Keyless APIs.

How it works: Once a key fob is embedded into the hardware, drivers open their third-party software app on their phone (which is integrated with their MyGeotab platform), locate the OEM button on the screen and use the features to lock, unlock and start the vehicle. In addition to phone apps, the keyless functionality can be enabled by NFC tags and directly over the cellular connection. Over time, the solution will expand to include other applications and third-party digital key hardware solutions, as well as OEM telematics’ APIs.

“In an increasingly dynamic world, on-demand free-floating shared mobility options are enabling new and innovative business opportunities for government and commercial fleets,” said Jean Pilon-Bignell, VP of Business Development, Government and Smart Cities. “By integrating this capability with a world-class telematics platform, fleets can have confidence in the fact that their shared mobility investments are backed by real data and analytics.”