If you follow the link and watch the video, you'll see it was already available for charging networks. They're expanding it to support non-EVs. The proprietary app thing is still the case though. That won't be solved by Apple, but by car manufacturers adopting Plug and Charge.
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Fuel Purchases Directly Within Apple CarPlay to Be Available This Fall
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Yeah, I don't want some guy who doesn't care about my car touching it. They're not going to avoid touching panels and such to avoid scratching. It isn't a Porsche but I treat it as if were that valuable. Any vehicle I own.
It's actually not new and not really a gamechanger, different gas brands have apps that do this before, it's just the ability to run it through Carplay is new.
You can make apps that you order food on through Carplay today. Dunkin app has Carplay for instance.
I know there have been various fuel brands that have some sort of “quick pay” options and or apps… i can remember Mobile and the little key fob they would send people… but most of those deals were tied to one having that companies credit card, or be involved in their rewards program and you still had to interact with the terminal… with this, the only interaction with the pump or station itself is the actual physical act of putting fuel in the vehicle… thats it… the amount, the grade, the payment is all handled within the confines of your own vehicle… so i think there are some distinct differences… as far as other drive through type of industries adopting this… i am sure there will be may try to do their own thing on their own, but will find the ones that incorporate their stuff into the CarPlay standard and format will get the most traction…
Like i said, time will tell… and all it will take is one greedy entity trying to overly profit from this to make it a non-starter…
Any head unit that supports CarPlay is only providing a screen, touch input, and audio connection to the phone. Everything actually runs on the phone and it just "projects" the image to the vehicle unit.
A change like this is more about the phone supporting the functionality and then just making the icon/app available on the vehicle screen. You don't need to update the head unit to get a feature like this.
Last I used the Mobil Speedpass app it let me pay with Apple Pay or store any credit card to pay, no need for a company specific card.
In the late 90’s Mobil launched “Speedpass”, which was an RFID tag that let you pay for fuel. Eventually it upgraded to a transponder that you installed in your vehicle, so when you pulled up to the pump, the pump lit up and you got your fuel.
My folks had it. And it was awesome. Eventually there was a watch you could get from Timex that had the transponder in it, different key tags. Grocery stores and fast food even experimented with it.
But then the mid 2000’s happened and suddenly you could buy RFID gear on eBay. I remember my folks getting a letter that they had to get rid of the transponder in their car because it could easily be activated by a passerby and then read, in favor of ONLY the keychains (in theory, because those are with you, they’re more secure). Then you had to start inputting a PIN number at the pump IIRC. So tl;dr, it fizzled out because the security features eventually eroded any convenience.
tl;dr— makes me a little nostalgic for the Speedbass my parents had and watching that logo light up when our Buick pulled up to the pump. I think this is pretty cool. I love using ApplePay at the pump on the rare occasions I get to. Going to the gas station is like going to the dentist. Sure; you gotta do it. But anything that reduces the time spent there even marginally is a good thing.
My folks had it. And it was awesome. Eventually there was a watch you could get from Timex that had the transponder in it, different key tags. Grocery stores and fast food even experimented with it.
But then the mid 2000’s happened and suddenly you could buy RFID gear on eBay. I remember my folks getting a letter that they had to get rid of the transponder in their car because it could easily be activated by a passerby and then read, in favor of ONLY the keychains (in theory, because those are with you, they’re more secure). Then you had to start inputting a PIN number at the pump IIRC. So tl;dr, it fizzled out because the security features eventually eroded any convenience.
tl;dr— makes me a little nostalgic for the Speedbass my parents had and watching that logo light up when our Buick pulled up to the pump. I think this is pretty cool. I love using ApplePay at the pump on the rare occasions I get to. Going to the gas station is like going to the dentist. Sure; you gotta do it. But anything that reduces the time spent there even marginally is a good thing.
This will work perfectly with Apple Pay Later, given the way gas prices are going
Works like a charm with many major chains in Moscow using the Yandex Navi app.
You pull up, fire up the app (unless navigating to the gas station already or approaching it), select the pump number, tell the guy how many liters of what, pay with a linked card, drive off. You can even tip the guy online.
All of this without ever leaving your vehicle.
I guess Car Play 2 integration would, in addition to the obvious things, add the convenience of an automatic low fuel/Search for nearby stations alert…
You pull up, fire up the app (unless navigating to the gas station already or approaching it), select the pump number, tell the guy how many liters of what, pay with a linked card, drive off. You can even tip the guy online.
All of this without ever leaving your vehicle.
I guess Car Play 2 integration would, in addition to the obvious things, add the convenience of an automatic low fuel/Search for nearby stations alert…
One of the major chain stores in my region has a fairly intuitive app.
Essentially you launch the app, it knows what station you're at, and you enter your pump number, then wait a few seconds for it to pre-authorise the transaction. Once that's done, you just pump your fuel and drive away.
I can see Apple's implementation removing the requirement to fish out your phone unlock it and launch the app. Which would be a nice improvement.
You can already do it without your phone w/o nfc. Exxon and she’ll already do this.
Yes. At least once every couple of years, the gas attendant won’t screw the cap on all the way which will result in warning lights coming on and me bringing the car in for service.
I know. You use an app on your phone. It’s way less efficient than an nfc payment. Just like this will be.
Don’t most modern cars have no gas cap. Find it hard to believe my civic would be unique in that way
If you were to somehow remove the “get out of the car” portion of this, that would make fueling up a fair bit simpler, but that seems virtually impossible to remove without some sort of robotic standard for refueling (which is likely not going to happen based on the push for EVs*).
* I suppose EVs would actually benefit similarly from such a standard, but there would have to be implementation differences between both of them. At the very least, the actual physical interface would be different.
Exactly. And electric vehicles. We urgently need to reduce the use of fossil fuels.
Absolutely. I can't imagine Apple would add a feature to help you buy cigarettes, for example. Why should they promote the use of fossil fuels?