Never forget to ‘check out’ again
Drivers of modern BMWs will soon no longer have to mess with apps or payment terminals to pay for parking, because cars with the latest infotainment systems on board will soon be able to arrange this almost entirely themselves. For the time being, they only do this in Germany and Austria, but in the course of 2023 the service should also be available in other European countries.
Anyone who ever goes to inner-city areas knows it: you have parked your car somewhere and then have to look for a payment terminal or have the right app on your phone. In the latter case, it is useful to check the location and license plate details when activating your payment, and especially not to forget to end your ‘parking session’ when you pick up your car later. If you forget that, it can be very expensive, especially in central Amsterdam, for example.
BMW has come up with something in collaboration with technology services company Parkopedia. Drivers of a modern BMW (one with BMW’s ‘Operating System’ 7 or 8) in Germany and Austria now have access to the ‘in-vehicle parking payments’ service, which appears in the infotainment system via an automatic software update. It automatically offers to pay the parking fee if you park your car in a zone with paid parking, after which you only have to give permission. If you drive away a little later, the payment will stop automatically. That way you don’t have to look for the applicable payment method yourself and you can never forget to stop the continuous payment-per-time unit.
The service is therefore immediately available for German and Austrian BMW drivers, but Parkopedia indicates that it will also introduce the update in other European countries next year, after processing feedback from the first users. It is to be expected that the Netherlands will also be part of this, so that Dutch BMW drivers will soon also be able to use the function.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl