Carkey on Audi A6 (PPE), coming next on the Macan?

[tmrqs]

The new Audi A6 e-tron, built on the PPE platform, quietly welcomes an exciting new feature: Carkey.

Carkey stores a virtual key on your phone and allows to open the car, start it and even share a temporary key with a friend.

The Audi A6 e-tron is the first to get it, we can now hope other vehicles built on PPE will as well… and not on the 2026 version.

Review and video (in French): https://www.mac4ever.com/auto/18789...fin-chez-audi-et-porsche-et-on-a-pu-le-tester

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[MatC21]

That would be great. My BMW from 2019 can already do this.
I use this very rarely but it has proven to be useful at times. Especially the fact that you can send the key around.

 

[Great_Cookie]

+1 - we’ve all been holding our breath on this (and other CarPlay features) since discussion last year.

Let’s hope this feature does get rolled out to all Macan EVs (including those already delivered) and doesn’t turn out to be an additional hardware dependant or “2026+ Model build” only type of thing. Am probably more hopeful given that UWB enhancements were part of updates rolled-out already to vehicles.

A definite ‘nice to have’ feature, but shouldn’t distract from our enjoyment of the vehicle.

 

[spife]

Porsche wants to charge you a few hundreds of dollars to customize your key fobs, do you think this digital key is one of their priority. Especially in china, one of the main markets of porsche, owners of fancy cars like to show off the key fobs of their cars,

 

[krissrock]

maybe with that update coming later this year?

 

[ahebe]

CW 25 earliest per the document shared on another post related to this issue.

https://www.macanevowners.com/forum...ss-in-catching-up-tech-wise.18230/post-275293

 

[masmole]

Porsche already lost a sale in my household because of this. When my wife needed a new daily driver, the Cayenne's lack of digital key made her choose a BMW X5 instead. Even I enjoy our BMW's digital key feature - I hate carrying fobs around. Wish my Taycan and 911 had it. Didn't stop me from order a Macan EV though I still wished it had it. No reason for Porsche to drag their feet about this convenience feature - Teslas have had it for almost a decade now!

 

[Hawk_Tuah]

Okay, that’d be big…. Waiting for the new CarPlay as well.

the macan is equipped with UWB, so an hardware upgrade would not be needed.

 

[Wivenhoe]

Forgive my ignorance - comfort access unlocks and connects to CarPlay as you approach the car. Would you have to keep the app running before entry until you exit ? If you or your phone decides to close the app during a journey how does the know there is a ‘key’ in the car ?
Apologies for asking a dumb question.

 

[Dragon Tourniquet]

Forgive my ignorance - comfort access unlocks and connects to CarPlay as you approach the car. Would you have to keep the app running before entry until you exit ? If you or your phone decides to close the app during a journey how does the know there is a ‘key’ in the car ?
Apologies for asking a dumb question.

Apple Car Key uses the Wallet App. If it you Express Mode / Comfort Mode enabled, you can just leave your phone in your pocket and it will work just like a fob. Also, if the phone's battery runs low and the phone shuts off, it has enough power reserve to still unlock and start the car for several hours.

 

[Wivenhoe]

Many thanks

 

[Throb]

Porsche already lost a sale in my household because of this. When my wife needed a new daily driver, the Cayenne's lack of digital key made her choose a BMW X5 instead.

If digital key is a deal breaker on buying a Porsche Cayenne, then you probably shouldn't have been in the market for a Cayenne in the first place.

 

[MatC21]

Everybody values features slightly differently.
Even though I don't understand how you can forgive interior quality, ride quality and performance (amongst other things) for a "phone key" but to each their own.

 

[masmole]

If digital key is a deal breaker on buying a Porsche Cayenne, then you probably shouldn't have been in the market for a Cayenne in the first place.

Well that’s a bit of an elitist comment... why wouldn’t we be in the market for a Cayenne and cross-shop it with an X5? They are pretty comparable in certain trims, and in my wife’s case she wanted a comfortable V8 SUV to replace her SQ7, so we were looking at a Cayenne S vs X5 M60i. Ride and performance for how we drive an SUV around to do errands, road trips, pick up kids, was very comparable based on our test-drives. I wanted the Cayenne S just because it’s a Porsche but ultimately my wife had the last say since it would be her daily and she ended up choosing the X5 M60i because seats were more comfortable for her frame, she liked the BMW’s huge infotainment screen (I hated it), and yes, the fact that it had digital key put it across the finish line first. You make it sound like the Cayenne is the be-all and end-all of SUVs and nothing comes close. It’s just an SUV, so more utility than performance, more tool than toy. Ok, maybe the Cayenne Turbo GT is the exception, but we were definitely not in the market for that. And it’s not like we’re comparing 911 vs M4 or Taycan vs M5. In both cases I went and bought a 911 and a Taycan because those are true class-leading performance cars that outshined everything else I cross-shopped them with.

 

[Throb]

Well that’s a bit of an elitist comment... why wouldn’t we be in the market for a Cayenne and cross-shop it with an X5? They are pretty comparable in certain trims, and in my wife’s case she wanted a comfortable V8 SUV to replace her SQ7

It's not about being "elitist". CarKey is such an inconsequential option in the grand scheme of things yet you said it was the sole reason you didn't order the Porsche. However...

she ended up choosing the X5 M60i because seats were more comfortable for her frame, she liked the BMW’s huge infotainment screen (I hated it), and yes, the fact that it had digital key put it across the finish line first.

...you've now pivoted from your original post which said: "When my wife needed a new daily driver, the Cayenne's lack of digital key made her choose a BMW X5 instead". No mention of the seat comfort or entertainment screen.

Had you said this in the first place, I wouldn't have questioned it at all.

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