The Audi A6 Avant E-Tron is the inaugural model in Audi’s lineup to feature Car Key support, with shared technology that indicates it may soon be available for certain Porsche electric vehicles as well.
While Audi has yet to officially announce Car Key compatibility for this latest station wagon, it was uncovered within the Audi app during a review of the vehicle.
What is Car Key?
Car Key allows you to add a virtual version of your car key to the Wallet app on your iPhone and Apple Watch.
Depending on how it’s configured, Car Key can be used to either manually lock and unlock your vehicle or function passively—automatically locking the car when you walk away and unlocking it as you approach.
Additionally, Car Key facilitates the creation of shared keys that can be given to selected contacts, enabling temporary access to your vehicle.
Audi A6 Avant E-Tron gets Car Key support
The French publication Mac4Ever identified that support was discreetly added to the app for the new A6 Avant model.
For the A6, the mobile app hasn’t changed much since the Q6 but introduces a major feature: Apple Car Key, the smartphone key! This feature appears to have been rolled out only recently, as we discovered it alongside Audi representatives, who have yet to officially acknowledge its availability […]
The functionality works via Bluetooth and presumably UWB, so there’s no need to place your phone in the RFID reader; you can simply keep it in your pocket.
Despite the Car Key functionality, the app itself received criticism for being either slow to reflect changes or failing to update at all.
The app is not always very responsive or genuinely reliable. When opened, the car’s status is often not updated in real time, necessitating forced refreshes. We’re also unable to check if the A6 is locked, whether the windows are fully closed, or if the air conditioning is running.
Nonetheless, with Car Key, you can now easily lock and unlock your car using your iPhone or Apple Watch.
Porsche EV support next
Mac4Ever points out that the E-Tron is built on a shared platform with Porsche, which is crucial to the brand’s strategy to electrify its existing models.
The new Premium Platform Electric (PPE), collaboratively developed by Audi and Porsche, expands the scope of electric vehicle platform applications. For Porsche, this opens new avenues for launching high-volume models with advanced technical standards at a profit, thus propelling the electrification of its lineup further.
The Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer aims for over 80 percent of its new deliveries to be fully electric by 2030. The PPE enables the optimization of the advantages of an all-electric platform in diverse ways. For instance, beyond space optimization, the lithium-ion battery is integrated into the underbody. In balancing the design amid the competing demands of range, performance, and sustainability, Porsche has stayed true to its philosophy by focusing on travel time while still allowing flexibility in terms of wheelbase, track width, and ground clearance, catering to varying performance levels for both rear- and all-wheel-drive models across different segments.
