Rivian Hosts Apple Car Key Interoperability Testing at CCC Plugfest

Apple, Rivian, and several major automakers are spending the week in Silicon Valley testing the future of digital vehicle access.

The Car Connectivity Consortium has kicked off its sixteenth end-to-end interoperability Plugfest, held January 12–16 at Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies’ Palo Alto facility. The event brings together automakers, device makers, testing labs, and tool vendors to validate real-world performance of CCC Digital Key Version 4, while also ensuring compatibility with Version 3 devices already on the road.

Participating companies include Apple, Google, Rivian, BMW, General Motors, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and several certification and testing partners. The focus this year is on advancing Digital Key v4 interoperability and certification readiness across phones, wearables, and vehicles.

Rivian added Digital Key support for Gen 2 R1 owners last month, making its role as a host especially notable. Events like this help ensure that features owners already use, such as phone-based unlocking and passive entry, remain secure, reliable, and compatible as standards evolve.

Testing throughout the week covers a wide range of technologies. That includes cross-version Digital Key testing between v3 and v4 devices, Bluetooth LE sniffing sessions to analyze communication behavior, updated NFC scenarios, passive entry and remote keyless entry testing, and ultra-wideband tool evaluations. Authorized labs like DEKRA are also on site running official test cases using CCC-approved tools.

According to the CCC, momentum around digital keys has reached a critical point. In its 2025 Future of Vehicle Connectivity Report, 97% of member companies said vehicle access is extremely or very important to their business, reinforcing that digital keys are no longer a novelty but an expected feature.

For Rivian owners, Plugfest is a behind-the-scenes look at how the industry is working to make sure walking up to your vehicle with your phone or Apple Watch just works, securely and consistently, no matter which device or automaker is involved.

Source: Business Wire