by Our car keys are those elusive little items that always seem to hide when you are in a hurry. Thanks to Bidvest Car Rental, this is a thing of the past. They have now launched ‘Snappdrive’, a mobile app that acts as a ‘digital key’ for rental cars.
Not only will the app unlock the synchronised car, it can also locate the car for the user. It does this by using the phone’s GPS tracking system. Need to start your car? No problem, just tell the app to start the ignition.
“Snappdrive, Start My Car Engine”
Snappdrive is easy to use. If you want to unlock your car, press the ‘Unlock’ button and the car will unlock. Once settled behind the steering wheel, hit ‘Start’ on Snappdrive and your car will be purring away in a couple of seconds.
In addition to all these fancy conveniences, users will also receive an SMS a day or two before the car is due back. This can be incredibly handy should you need to extend your rental lease, if your plans change. This saves time as, in the past, customers had to return their cars and possibly take out another vehicle rental due to availability.
“It really is as simple as Arrive, Unlock, and Drive,” said Gaynor Von Loggenburg, Bidvest Car Rental executive for sales and marketing.
Bidvest plan to use telematics to track vehicles in order to ensure real-time fleet management for both the company and their customers.
“We will be able to collect real-time data on speed, mileage, and fuel usage,” said Bidvest.
How Do I Get Snappdrive?
The Snappdrive app is available in Apple’s App store and the Google Play store.
The Snappdrive app will be rolled out in two phases. The first phase will be available to Bidvest’s Car Rental Corporate customers and deployed in a separate vehicle group at OR Tambo, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and King Shaka airports.
Phase two will be introduced to premium vehicle groups and other markets, with value-add functionality for Bidvest customers. The date for phase two is yet to be announced.
