Evidence Shows Tesla May Soon Embrace Apple Car Key
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It was quite a surprise last month when a report surfaced that Tesla could finally be embracing CarPlay, and now it appears this could just be the tip of the proverbial iceberg as it prepares to expand its interoperability more broadly.
A new report from Not a Tesla App reveals that the latest Tesla app, version 4.52.0, has code suggesting support for mobile wallet keys could be coming soon. Still, before iPhone fans get too excited, these appear to be specific to “Harmony Wallet Key Cards” — digital keys for Huawei’s HarmonyOS ecosystem.
Since that platform predominantly exists in China, the move might simply be a play by Tesla to expand its presence in the Chinese market. However, this is also where the company often rolls out new features before expanding them globally, so it’s entirely possible this may be the first step toward adding support digital Tesla keys in Apple Wallet. Plus, once HarmonyOS support is up and running, it’s an incredibly short step from there to Apple Wallet.
As Not a Tesla App notes, Tesla’s competitors may also be lighting a fire under it. Earlier this month, Rivian rolled out a Holiday Update for its vehicles that officially added Apple Car Key and its Android counterpart for Google Wallet. As with similar implementations on more mainstream brands like BMW, Kia and Mercedes-Benz, Rivian uses the Car Connectivity Consortium’s (CCC) Digital Key standard — as do Apple and Google — so this is far from a proprietary solution.
While Tesla has offered its own “Phone Key” for years, that one is a proprietary solution, and it also relies on the app running continuously in the background. By contrast, Apple Car Key lives in the iPhone’s secure element, much like a credit or debit card used with Apple Pay, and can therefore be presented using Power Reserve Mode even when your iPhone’s battery has gone dead. That would remove one of the biggest reasons to carry a physical Tesla key card as a backup.
To be clear, there’s still nothing in the Tesla app that references Apple or Google’s digital keys, so it’s hard to say when this will roll out, but with 13 other car manufacturers on board with Apple Car Key, and the days of Tesla stubbornly charting its own course seemingly ending, it’s likely to happen sooner rather than later.
After all, there’s strong evidence that Tesla is getting ready to surrender to an even bigger Apple integration. Last month Bloomberg reported that Tesla has been actively developing support for CarPlay in its vehicles. It’s unclear when that integration would be arriving, and the report suggests that it will still be handled in Tesla’s unique way, running in a window rather than taking over the whole screen, and avoiding any deeper integration into Tesla’s in-vehicle features.
The company hasn’t publicly confirmed those plans, which would be a shocking about-face after years of holding out, but most analysts believe it makes sense, with the mythic Apple Car no longer being a potential competitor for Tesla and slagging sales combined with increasing customer demand for tighter iPhone integration. The EV market is far more competitive than it was in Tesla’s early days, and the carmaker can no longer afford the hubris of insisting that customers adapt to its way of doing things. If Tesla is truly willing to embrace CarPlay, it would be highly unusual for it to hold out on Car Key.
