Drive like Bond, James Bond: Express tests the Land Rover smartphone car remote control

You can now take your Range Rover Sport for a spin, without opening the car door.

Land Rover’s smart motor can be started, dropped into gear – and driven down the road using only a smartphone app.

The technology spookily similar to the gadget featured in Tomorrow Never Dies, which sees Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond pilot a BMW 750i from the backseat using a portable remote.

However – Land Rover have demoed the same technology using only a modern smartphone app.

From within the smartphone software, drivers are able to reverse, brake, accelerate and steer the £60,000 off-road machine.

Land Rover has implemented a five mile-per-hour speed limit to ensure safety when the car is being piloted remotely. If you drop your phone – the car stops dead in seconds.

Land Rover reckon there are many reasons why driving your car remotely could be useful.

The driver could use their smartphone to reverse the car out of a parking space if someone has parked too close for them to open the door or if you’ve got a tight parking space at your home.

But where Land Rover really see this technology being useful is when cars are taken off-road.

Drivers could use the app to become their own off-road spotter, guiding the car over obstacles from outside the vehicle.

It’s certainly clever tech and, with development, you could be controlling you car via a smartphone within the next five years.