California: It’s not quite the fuel concierge service that Bentley is currently trailing in California, where a fuel truck actually comes to your car at the moment that’s most convenient; but unlike a Continental GT or Bentayga, Jaguar’s latest cars essentially sip rather than gulp the gasoline.
And from this month, owners of latest generation XE and XF models, as well as the new F-Pace, will be able to pay for fuel when filling up simply by tapping an icon on their cars’ infotainment display.
“You will save time because there’s no more queuing to pay in a shop, and for drivers with children, it won’t be necessary to wake them up, or unstrap them from their seats to take them into the shop,” said Peter Virk, Jaguar Land Rover’s Director of Connected Car and Future Technology.
Though the new Shell app will only work when at a Shell service station — 43,000 globally and counting — it will let users select which pump and how much fuel they which to purchase in advance and the electronic payment is both quick and secure.
Though more and more pumps are now completely self-service with integrated credit or debit card payment, they can still pose a potential security risk thanks to card-cloning systems.
And because it’s an integrated, digital service, there are also benefits for those who use their cars for work.
“Expenses and tax returns will also be made much simpler, with no receipts to lose as these will all be sent electronically,” said Virk.
A copy of the receipt can be sent to an email account for accounting purposes.
“Our technology allows users to put their phone away out of sight and use it via the touchscreen in the car because as the car becomes more connected to the Internet of Things, we will always be guided by what is appropriate and safe to do while driving. So in-car payments would only be enabled when it is safe to do so, preventing unnecessary driver distractions,” said Virk.
The new service goes live in the UK and will be rolling out to Jaguar owners around the world over the course of 2017.
AFP