DriveNow confirms Apple Watch compatibilty

With only three days remaining until the UK release of Apple Watch, the carsharing service DriveNow has confirmed that its customers will be able to access its 240 vehicles through the new device from launch date.

DriveNow, a joint venture between BMW Group and Sixt SE, is a free-floating carsharing service operational in eight global cities with over 400,000 global customers. Since launching to London in December 2014, DriveNow has developed a market of over 10,000 customers in London and currently has operations across four boroughs in North East London.

From this Friday, DriveNow customers in London will all be able to find, reserve, open and lock vehicles using their Apple Watch. DriveNow currently offers customers access to a fleet of 240 vehicles, comprised entirely of BMW 1 Series and MINI models across a business area spanning 84km2. The business initially launched in Hackney, Haringey and Islington before Christmas, going on to add a fourth borough, Waltham Forest, in February 2015.

The DriveNow App is optimized for the Watch and will show where the nearest available car is. A customer can secure a car for 15 minutes by just one touch on the “reserve” button. The App will then show the customer the quickest route to the car and once they’ve reached the car, another short touch will open it. Customers can start their journey without ever taking their iPhone out of their pocket.

Nico Gabriel, global managing director of DriveNow, said:  “We have placed technological innovation right at the heart of DriveNow’s London operations and this announcement is a logical step in this process. We firmly believe that technology can play a central role in helping London overcome its immediate mobility challenges and we believe services like DriveNow can play a vital role in the capital’s wider mobility mix.

“Apple Watch is the perfect companion gadget for our app, making it even easier to use DriveNow. We have thousands of customers using iOS, so I’m sure some of these will be opening their DriveNow Car through the Apple Watch this Friday”.