From March 2018, Mini says that all of its new models will be available with the option of a built-in 4G SIM card, ushering in a “new era of connectivity”.
The new digital services the card enables will be available in 43 markets worldwide, including South Africa, following the launch of the new-generation Mini Connected, and will be offered in a choice of three packages: Connected Media, Connected Navigation and Connected Navigation Plus.
The BMW-backed brand says this will allow Mini drivers to access a “digital world of personalised services designed to make day-to-day mobility and planning even easier”. The first models to be offered with the update will be the three- and five-door hatches, and the convertible.
Existing features, such as “intelligent emergency call” and “teleservices”, will be joined by new services, including the concierge service, real-time traffic information (with navigation map updates) and Mini Online.
The optional 4G card and an update for the Mini Connected app will afford users access to a variety of other new services, including “time-to-leave” notifications (push messages to assist punctual departure), “send to car” (for importing destinations from a smartphone to the car) and “remote services” (the ability to, for example, lock the vehicle’s doors from a smartphone).
A charging timer, charging station search function and “personal efficiency status display” will furthermore be offered in electrified models.
