Volvo is planning to ship your next car without a key

Drivers are accustomed to accessing their cars with physical keys. Volvo plans to change this, and become the world’s first car manufacturer to offer cars without keys. (Make sure you read till the end if you're shocked after reading this!)

The customers will be offered a smartphone application. The idea is to replace the physical key with a digital key. The app will enable the digital key on the mobile phone to do everything a physical key currently does - one can lock/unlock the doors and the boot, or start the engine. Unlocking the car will be the easiest of them all. The Bluetooth signal from the phone will automatically do it as the driver approaches the vehicle.

There is also a possibility to receive more than one digital key on the app to access different Volvo cars in different locations. Assume you have rented a Volvo. The rental service will send the digital key to your smartphone. You can just walk-in to their parking, unlock your car using the digital key via the app, and drive away. Easy enough? Do not worry if you are a rental service, since these keys can be set to expire after a specified time, for instance, after the rental period is over.

This will also simplify car-sharing. Just send the digital key to your friend, and he/she will be able to use your car. Had a fight with your better half? Make sure they cannot use your car anymore by marking the key as expired.

Volvo is planning a trial in Spring 2016 via its car sharing firm Sunfleet, stationed at Gothenburg airport, Sweden. Few commercially available cars will be equipped with the new digital key technology in 2017.

And if you're still in shock, worry not, physical keys will still be offered. You just need to ask the awesome people at Volvo.