Ford MyKey Promises to Tame Teen drivers

John Dodge, Editor-in-Chief -- Design News, October 10, 2008

As it wrestles with perhaps the worst car market in its long history, Ford continues to innovate, this time with a microchip-based ignition key that reigns in bad or teenage drivers.

Called MyKey, the new device sets up speed alarms, restricts audio volume, limits top speed to 80 mph and provides earlier low fuel warnings. Two years in development, MyKey also allows key owners to set the parameters, much like an IT administrator would for a group of computer users.

"The way you designate the MyKey is to go through a setup menu. You set, reset and hold to confirm. That basically updates the lookup data in the vehicle network that sets all the keys," says Tom Miller, Ford's systems engineer on the MyKey project. Up to eight keys can be programmed in this way.

When the MyKey is put in the ignition, the system reads the transponder chip and enables selected driving modes such as seatbelt reminders, top speed enforcement and chime reminders for 45, 55 and 65 mph, limiting the auto volume to 44 percent of maximum, according to the press release. The chip is a Texas Instruments TIRIS radio frequency integrated circuit, according to a Ford spokesman. He would not be more specific given the proprietary and security nature of MyKey.

MyKey will become standard in the 2010 Ford Focus and will quickly spread across the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury lines. It builds off a key transponder that Ford first deployed on select models starting in 1996 and that is Ford's standard key system today. "We are addressing those risky behaviors. MyKey is like having parents in the vehicle when they are not in the vehicle," Miller says.

Ford also recently introduced a Collision Warning with Brake Support radar system that warns drivers of pending collisions and pre-charges the brakes for shorter stopping distances. It is one of three radar technologies Ford is launching in 2008 and 2009 Ford and Lincoln models.

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