Chery brings car controls to the Apple Watch, with the Fengyun T9L first to get the new solution
Chery is adding Apple Watch support to its cars, allowing users to check the vehicle’s status and control several functions directly from their wrist. The new system will first arrive on the Fengyun T9L plug-in hybrid for the Chinese market, and supports gesture controls in addition to screen taps.
Users will be able to check the battery’s remaining charge and the vehicle’s location via the watch, lock or unlock the doors, open the powered tailgate and adjust the air-conditioning settings.
The phone may increasingly stay in the pocket
Using an Apple Watch as a remote control for a car is not new in itself. More interesting is how much of the usual app functionality Chery is moving to the watch.
Checking the vehicle’s location and battery charge are primarily convenience features. Controlling the doors, tailgate and air conditioning means that, in many everyday situations, there will be no need to take out the phone.
However, this should not be confused with Apple Car Key. Car Key stores a digital car key in Apple Wallet and allows a compatible vehicle to be unlocked and started using an iPhone or Apple Watch. In 2025, Apple named Chery among the car brands for which Car Key support is forthcoming.
The Fengyun T9L will be the first to receive the technology
Chery selected the Fengyun T9L, an approximately 4.8-metre-long plug-in hybrid SUV, to debut the new function.
The T9L uses a hybrid powertrain built around a 1.5-litre petrol engine. The electric drivetrain is rated at 353 hp, or approximately 260 kW. Electric range reaches 230 km under China’s test cycle, while 0-100 km/h takes less than five seconds.
That range figure needs to be viewed from a European perspective. China’s CLTC test cycle generally produces a more optimistic range figure than the WLTP cycle used in Europe, so the 230 km figure cannot be compared directly with European plug-in hybrids.
For Europe, the ecosystem matters more than the watch itself
Chery’s technology demonstrates one strength of Chinese carmakers: the rapid development of a digital ecosystem built around software and the car. Apple Watch integration is not a technical revolution, but bringing such functions together into a cohesive user experience is becoming a competitive advantage.
In Europe, Chery competes primarily through its Omoda and Jaecoo brands, where buyers increasingly compare Chinese cars with models from Volkswagen, Hyundai, Kia and other established manufacturers. In such competition, a large screen and a long equipment list are no longer enough.
The car must communicate seamlessly with the devices its owner already uses. As the car key, remote climate control and vehicle-status checks move to the wrist, the smartwatch effectively becomes the car’s next remote control.
