New Audi V2I tech lets you pay tolls using the rearview mirror
ITM removes the need to attach an EZPass or FasTrak to your windshield.
There's nothing worse than getting halfway through a long journey, only to realize you've left your highway toll-paying device at home. That's soon to be a relic of the past if you slide into a new Audi , though.
Audi announced today that it has devised a system called an integrated toll module (ITM), which will allow owners of certain new Audi vehicles to pay tolls without the part you have to tack to the windshield.
Hidden in the mirror, the ITM works with nearly every toll entity in the US, as well as some in Canada and Mexico. Whether you're packing an I-Pass, EZPass, FasTrak, Sun Pass or a bunch of other toll modules, ITM has you covered. It can be registered with either a current or new toll account. Gentex Corporation, the company that also provides Audi with its auto-dimming rearview mirrors, developed this tech for Audi.
"But wait," you might be saying, "my toll module has switches and buttons, so I need it in my car." That's where you're wrong, person I just made up. ITM works with Audi's MMI infotainment system, so you can hop into a menu and switch your HOV occupant settings or turn your toll module on or off. Easy enough!
Sadly, Audi didn't specify which vehicles will get ITM, only that it will arrive "later this year" on "select vehicles." A lack of specifics almost certainly means that it'll be a key component of a new model that has not yet been announced, but once we get some concrete examples, we'll be sure to update.
This isn't the first time Audi's entered the strange new frontier of vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication. Audi also teamed up with the city of Las Vegas to show off Traffic Light Information, a V2I system that uses the gauge cluster to warn the driver when a light is about to change from red to green. That way, you won't (or shouldn't) be distracted when it's time to shove off.
