Earlier this week, I filed my first impressions of the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the automaker’s first consumer-facing electric vehicle in Australia. It’s an absolute monster on the track and a very nice car to drive, even if the link to the Mustang family is questionable. However, going hands-on with Ford’s new toy showed me something extremely cool – the SecuriCode lock system.
The SecuriCode lock system is unique to Fords and Lincolns (a luxury badge owned by the blue oval), and has been available on U.S. models since the 1980s. It is supposedly present on 90 per cent of all models in America. It’s an array of numbers on the driver’s door, sort of like a narrow ATM panel with haptic buttons (previously physical), that lets you get into the car without your key and without a FordPass-connected phone.
Here’s how the system worked on an older Ford model back when physical buttons were used:
It’s a pretty cool system that I was previously unaware of until I got to see it in the flesh, and it’s perfect for various day-to-day scenarios. What if you accidentally leave your keys in the car? Or leave your keys in the house and need to grab something from the car? What if you deliberately left your keys in the car because you’re off to do something where you can’t have anything in your pockets, like surfing or working out at the gym.
It seems to have been unavailable on Ford vehicles in Australia up until now, which is why I’ve never encountered it before. With Ford bringing the F-150 ute/truck and the Mustang Mach-E to Australia, equipped with the PIN code entry system, the tech finally makes its way to Aus.
“As you walk up to your car, and you swipe your finger down it [the panel], it illuminates. Each car has a standard PIN that you’ll receive when you get the new car,” product marketing manager for Ford Australia Miles Hartley told Gizmodo Australia.
When holding the bottom two numbers, the lock will activate, and the car’s physical key will become passive (in that it will no longer be able to unlock the car).
If the car is locked at any time, it can be unlocked by the PIN.
The PIN can be changed using the car’s centre console, and the control of the PIN (including whether it unlocks all doors or just the driver’s door) can also be changed.
Anyway, it’s hardly an innovation, but it is new to the Australian market, although the existence of car unlocking through a phone app might make it a bit redundant to some drivers.
I do hope it’ll be a mainstay of Ford’s future vehicles down under, and hopefully, future F-150 models in Australia won’t have it on the wrong side.
It could ultimately be shortlived locally, as the Ford Edge, Ford Maverick, and Ford Escape have all ditched the Securicode pad with their newest U.S. models.
Image: Zachariah Kelly/Gizmodo Australia