Reservations

Users need to create a reservation on a vehicle in order to be able to use a vehicle. Every vehicle has a calendar that an be accessed via the app.

Reservation start

20 minutes before the reserved start time the app shows the current location of the vehicle to the user. From this point on the user is able to start the reservation.

In-car hardware offline

If a connected vehicle is offline when the user wants to start the reservation the user will still be able to start the reservation (as long as the phone itself has internet connection). The system will determine the start state of the vehicle automatically based on the data that is received afterwards.

In order to be able to unlock the vehicle the user will have to have bluetooth enabled and grant the necessary permissions to the app. The app can send an unlock command directly over bluetooth to the in-car hardware.

Damage reporting

The app can prompt the user to check for damage. This prompt is shown after the user has started the reservation and unlocked the vehicle for the first time. (This to be able to also check the interior for damage)

Locking/unlocking during the reservation

During the reservation the user can unlock/lock the car via the app. In case a physical key is still present in the car the user can still use this key, but the app will not be able to unlock again. The key has priority over the app.

Reservation end

A reservation ends when:

• The user presses the "End Usage" button.
• All the following conditions are met:
  1. The end-time of the reservation has passed.
  2. The doors of the vehicle are locked.
  3. The vehicle is in the home zone.

In certain conditions the doors are automatically locked. More information on automated locking of doors.

In-car hardware offline

For a connected vehicle the system will only allow to end a reservation if an up-to-date status of the vehicle is known. When the user presses the end usage button the server will try to contact the cloudboxx directly over the internet to get the current status. If the in-car hardware is offline this will not succeed. An error message will be shown the reservation could not be ended.

If this happens there are 3 options:

1. Wait and try again after a few minutes. Usually the cloudboxx comes online again after a while, given the vehicle is parked above ground.
2. If the end-user has bluetooth enabled the carsharing app will connect directly to the cloudboxx via bluetooth. This is indicated with a bluetooth connected icon next to the lock/unlock buttons. If the app is connected directly via bluetooth with every lock command the status of the vehicle is obtained via this bluetooth connection. If the end-user locks the car via bluetooth the end-user should be able to end the reservation via the app ,given the phone has internet connection, because the app will send the vehicle status to the server.
3. An administrator can change the hardware settings of this vehicle via the control center. THe admin can temporarily append mock- to the QNR. The reservation can be ended. Billing of the reservation will be incorrect and no checks happen. The appended mock- should be removed again from the QNR in the hardware settings.

Warning: Appending mock- to the QNR disconnects the vehicle from the platform and the app will think the vehicle is a virtual demo vehicle. This option should be a last resort.