[RahulNagaraj]

According to media reports, customers of Mercedes-Benz EQ models will soon have to pay an additional $1200 (plus tax) per year to unlock the full performance potential of their vehicles. The German luxury car brand is said to soon be introducing an "Acceleration Increase" subscription service for all its EQ models.



As per reports, the yearly subscription fee will increase the horsepower and torque figures of the EQ models, while also increasing their overall performance. Mercedes is said to have stated that 0 - 60 mph acceleration times with the $1200 subscription will improve by 0.8 - 1.0 second & will change the characteristics of the electric motors as well. The extra performance is said to be unlocked by selecting the Dynamic drive mode.

Reports state that the power output of the EQE 350 4MATIC & EQE SUV 350 4MATIC will increase from 288 BHP to 349 BHP, while the 0-60 mph time drops by 0.9 seconds on the sedan & by 1.0 second on the SUV. Similarly, the EQS 450 4MATIC & EQS SUV 4MATIC will also get a boost in power from 355 BHP to 443 BHP. 0-60 mph of the sedan drops from 5.3 to 4.5 seconds, while the SUV's acceleration time comes down from 5.8 to 4.9 seconds.

Source: TheDrive

Link to Team-BHP news

[saket77]

How about other subscription packages for AC, heater, wipers, headlamps etc. And how about rear seats available only with premium subscription. Watch ads before your car could crank. But please give brakes with base subscription.

Really hope that car makers don't go down this way. For god's sake it's a car, not Hotstar.

[TN13Sleeper]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

A boost in power from 355 BHP to 443 BHP.

The registration certificate provided by our RTO mentions the power output of the vehicle. Considering a subscription based model, it might be cumbersome to make an endorsement each time one decides to subscribe to 443 BHP or unsubscribe back to 355 BHP.

[Raghu M]

If there is something that is more weirder than what Elon Musk has spoken in the last few weeks, it has to be this. The most ridiculous thing I have read. The worst part is Merc knows it will still have customers. What next? subscription for no. of times you can open/close door, lock/unlock logs, engine start/stop logs?

Originally Posted by TN13Sleeper

The registration certificate provided by our RTO mentions the power output of the vehicle. Considering a subscription based model, it might be cumbersome to make an endorsement each time one decides to subscribe to 443 BHP or unsubscribe back to 355 BHP.

I think the RTO will give the max power output as it can be achieved (by whatever means). If a person is under utilizing, it's not their problem but they will mention the engines full capacity.

[Gupts007]

I think the electrification and the wifi always connected technology is giving these companies tremendous control on the operations of the vehicles. It seems within their board meetings this must come up as a potential revenue generation setup. First it was BMW planning to rent it's cooling seats and now Mercedes. Whether we like it or not, owning a car is not going to be a one time expense. These manufacturers have tasted blood and they won't stop here.

[bobbyblr]

We need to stop connecting the car to the internet except for tracking if it gets stolen. Also we need to stop this subscription in cars.Who needs remote start and remote AC ?
What we really need is a reliable & conformable car.

[Jaggu]

Is it extended warranty for parts failure? Or are they planning to provide a cheaper model with lower output as standard?

Taking the subscription model to nonsensical level!

[TN13Sleeper]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

I think the RTO will give the max power output as it can be achieved (by whatever means). If a person is under utilizing, it's not their problem but they will mention the engines full capacity.

According to the way that the article is written, one assumes that the EQ range of EVs are already on the road with their mentioned original specifications.

[sse]

While this is insane, I feel, This is going to be the future of automobile industry which can yield massive gains for a manufacturer but not so much for a consumer.

Example - from a manufacturers perspective, they can produce a single high variant giving them benefits like efficient utilisation of their inventories, production line etc.. all while charging customers for plonking the un-asked features into a car, to go with a steady revenue stream through subscription.

[carthick1000]

Rant Alert!

Tesla brought OTA to it's fleet of passenger cars as a pioneer. And introduced subscription models too.

Germans started their brochure engineering , especially when they embraced OTA in recent years. Now their exorbitantly overpaid business development units+external consultants are working in full swing to cash in on the model. Soon their 50 page brochures are going to be extended with another 50 pages of software subscriptions in years to come. As much as I like German Engineered cars, I am finding it too hard to come to terms with their approach now-a-days. Sooner or later, I will probably get a latest gen Honda Civic and bid good bye to all these Car-as-a-Service OEMs, which are treating customers like cash cows (as if we are not already one).

[Bsreecharan]

This is the future of automobiles which are software driven. I think this kind of model will help manufacturers optimise their production to just one model with everything in it...pay more to unlock the features. Its like the revenue from Apple Services.

[iamahunter]

Its kind of having an option to convert your car to a 5L V10 from a 1.5L I4.(hypothetically speaking)

But, choosing a service should be according to the requirements.
Like if I am travelling on a trip where I may need the additional power, I will take the subscription for those many days or so. Regular office days, not extra power required then I stop the service.

I would like to have the service for rear AC, Music system, Cruise control, etc.. and I would like to have them on hourly basis, or say a day package. Going by the current trends, it doesn't seem too far fetched any more. Soon there will be a "chota recharge" for the subscriptions.

Even better - take the car for free, purchase the door unlock subscription to get in the car, Ignition subscription, audio player subscription, speed limit subscription (oh that's kind-of started already), do you also need airbags sir?!

Honestly I hate where this is going! For God's sake, its a car and not a mobile service (or is it!).

[revvharder]

Originally Posted by saket77

Really hope that car makers don't go down this way. For god's sake it's a car, not Hotstar.

Playing ads before allowing user to use Wipers, Headlights, reducing volume, adjusting climate control etc

First it will start with 5 second ads, then skippable ads then 20 second unskippable ads

As we see the world is moving towards more and more subscription based model rather owning whether it is Games for consoles, Adobe photoshop, microsoft 365, etc as it is more profitable for companies and one time users but is raising costs for long term users and users have no ownership rights over it at the end of the subscription.

[anandhsub]

If this is for already sold EQ models, then I think it makes sense. Given the pace with which EV Tech is developing, both hardware and software, it is good to know that an early adopter wont be disadvantaged much, at least from a software perspective.

But if it is for new launches, then I dont think any buyer in this category will be willing to pay an annual subscription fee for something as basic as higher power. May be for stuff that is very rarely used but good to have in an high end car it makes sense.

[jono213]

This is insanity! Even after paying a princely sum of 1-2cr, you can’t access the entire potential of the car YOU paid for? This reminds me of BMW rolling out heated seat subscriptions which is arguably worse!
Hopefully someone creates a way to bypass this altogether.