Ford has begun rolling out a new technology to all its new vehicles that will offer connectivity to smartphones and smart devices with some cool features that help keep track of the vehicle’s information, service and warranty and even financing and roadside assistance programs.
The system centres around a built-in free modem called Sync Connect as well as a smartphone app that is available free for both Android, iPhones and even the Apple Watch. The application gives you live data about the fuel, odometer reading and even tyre pressure of the vehicle but the most impressive feature of the app is the ability to lock and unlock the vehicle and even start and stop the car from the application.
Once you download the app it is easy to set up with a few simple steps on the phone app and with Ford’s in-car Sync entertainment system. The application is being made across all vehicle lines and all trim levels, FordPass is already available in vehicles leaving showrooms in many places around the world including many of the company’s most popular vehicles like F150, Ranger, Edge, Focus and Transit.
I recently had the opportunity to try out the app on a friend’s new Ranger and found it to be a simple to use app with fairly clean design. Ford have gone to the effort of having a fancy pic of your car in the app in your car’s actual colour, which is a nice touch. Other nice features are the tyre pressure monitor and the ability to send your smartphone a notification when things need maintenance or topping up things like your washer water level. Speaking of maintenance, there is a section of the app for the service history of the car. I can see this being a great benefit to car buyers when the vehicle hits the second hand market as often with the case of ex company cars the service books can get lost along with its history of maintenance.
The app also features a few more handy items including a GPS location of the car, so it’s easy to find in those huge car parks from the phone and there are useful information including petrol stations and where to find Ford dealerships.
Screenshot Gallery of the app
Ford aren’t the first car company to provide apps for their vehicles, many of the higher end brands like Mercedes and Tesla have been including apps like this for sometime. Ford are one of the first car companies to incorporate this connectivity this feature across their full range of cars. New cars in Australia come with free 3 year subscription to live traffic features that are incorporated into the cars’ navigation system. I can see that Ford are hopeful that this feature will become a new revenue stream in the future once the trial runs out.
Ford have also launched an API that allows developers to communicate with their vehicles via other platforms. In the future you could use your favourite smart home hub like Home Assistant to give you the handy function of checking if the car is locked when you go to bed at night and even start the engine a few minutes before heading outside on those frosty mornings. Currently, an Alexa skill exists in the USA that allows you to tell your virtual assistant to interact with your car.
FordPass offers an entry into the connected vehicle of future. The easy to use and useful feature gives us a taste and some insight into how this technology will develop over the next few years.