Yesterday we reported on a newly discovered security vulnerability initially tied to Tesla vehicles. As we noted, the vulnerability could affect other cars that also utilize Bluetooth technology. Now, a new report says that Ford has decided to hold its Phone-As-A-Key Bluetooth feature back from the F-150 Lightning until later this year.
First posted over on LightningOwners.com, multiple documents reportedly sent to dealers have turned up indicating a delay in the function that was initially promised to work on the F-150 Lightning at launch. In the first image, we see a long statement clarifying that the feature is still coming but won’t be available until the late summer of 2022.
“This feature is currently not enabled, and customers will not have the option to set up Phone-as-a-Key upon vehicle delivery. No repairs should be attempted at this time. To ensure vehicles can receive OTA software updates, customers should make sure their Vehicle Connectivity Settings are set to ON.”
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Another document indicates that this change will impact all F-150 Lightning’s built from April 11th until the end of June with the Phone-as-a-Key feature option. It also says that owners will need to sign a document acknowledging that the feature won’t work at the time of delivery but that it’s scheduled to be enabled later this year.
Those with a reservation for the F-150 Lightning might be able to confirm the change through their MyFord mobile applications. Multiple online users have reported a message in the application saying “Phone as a Key is coming soon and will be available via Ford Power Up software update in late summer 2022.
In the meantime, Lightning owners will be provided with two key fobs which is a change in and of itself. As the chip shortage took hold of the industry, many manufacturers including Ford, began delivering vehicles with a single key as opposed to two.
Of course, having a feature like PaaK can negate the need for an additional key to some degree but it’s less than perfect. Many users on the same forum complain about its inconsistency and lack of functionality. Hopefully, the update coming later this year will solve some of those problems and care for whatever vulnerabilities the platform might be exposed to.
