[RahulNagaraj]

Owners of the Mercedes-Benz EQE350 and EQS450 (sedan and SUV body styles) can now purchase an 'Acceleration Increase' subscription via Mercedes Me Connect Services. According to reports, the subscription offers dual-motor versions of both EQE & EQS, with added power and improved 0-60 mph (0-98 km/h) acceleration times.



The Mercedes EQE350 with the subscription, gets a power boost of 60 BHP from 288 BHP to 348 BHP, while the EQS450 gets an 80 BHP power bump from 355 BHP to 435 BHP. Also, the EQE350 sedan and SUV offer a 0-60 mph time of 5.1 and 5.2 seconds, respectively - which is 0.9 and 1.0 seconds quicker than standard. Similarly, the EQS450 sedan and SUV acceleration timings reduce by 0.8 and 0.9 seconds, respectively. The EQS sedan accelerates to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds, while the SUV takes 4.9 seconds.

Here's where it gets interesting, Mercedes-Benz EQE350 customers need to pay $60 per month or $600 per year to access quicker acceleration times. EQS450 customers need to shell out either $90 per month or $900 per year for the same. Customers can also choose a one-time fee, which costs $1950 for EQE and $2950 for EQS customers.

Source: CarAndDriver

Link to Team-BHP news

[omranga98]

Life was just so much simpler when you got what you paid for .

[turbospooler]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

The Mercedes EQE350 with the subscription, gets a power boost of 60 BHP from 288 BHP to 348 BHP, while the EQS450 gets an 80 BHP power bump from 355 BHP to 435 BHP.

Ok, so the car HAS the additional horsepower on tap, but Mercedes wants to gouge more money from its customer.
So, they have given the "hardware" to the customers, and you have to lug the additional weight around, which wouldn't have been an issue in an ICE car, but is very crucial in an EV affecting its range.

Ideally, if they could've given only 288& 355 BHP motors respectively to the 350 & 450, the weight would've reduced significantly, thereby giving the range benefit.

[Shreyans_Jain]

This is what happens when car companies take in entire divisions from a different business, software. They’ll learn the hard way that such shenanigans will only piss people off, and you wouldn’t want to aggravate high paying premium customers. You can charge $10k extra upfront for extra horsepower. That’s fair. But you can’t make it a subscription.

[furyrider]

Here's where it gets interesting, Mercedes-Benz EQE350 customers need to pay $60 per month or $600 per year to access quicker acceleration times. EQS450 customers need to shell out either $90 per month or $900 per year for the same. Customers can also choose a one-time fee, which costs $1950 for EQE and $2950 for EQS customers.

These subscriptions are getting out of hand. So, someone buys a luxury vehicle only to find out their vehicle is limited by software, and they have to pay a "ransom" (yes, I mean it! subscription fee for a car = ransom for me) to the company to "unlock" the vehicle's true capabilities? What next? will they introduce a new plan where the customer has to pay for airbags or brakes to work?

I really hope that this move backfires for them. Unfortunately, with more companies jumping on this bandwagon, I wouldn't be surprised if this trickles down to mass market cars sooner or later.

[TejasV]

Unfortunately, though I hate the idea - upselling features as addons to maximise value is the way forward for most companies. They will keep doing this as it will help keep the entry cost (of acquisition) lower and sadly, these machines are now going to be seen as a service in the future.

Much like how Tesla said they can actually give the car at cost price in the near future and make even more money with just subscription for the software that comes with the car. I think there's no way we can run away from it as more companies - proper car companies.. especially the mass market ones have very thin margins upfront and with maintenance/service costs largely coming under check due to better parts/systems - selling these softwares as unlocked addons is the only for them to maximise profits without incurring very high capital costs.

This is trickling down into all kinds of products we use already, even in a country like India - where they acquire at a lower cost to the consumer but upsell every feature - I have a Livpure water purifier and was okay paying for more for wifi connectivity etc. which came in later just for the convenience and as humans we tend to forget the cost of acquisition and consider it a sunk cost already. So if my Merc can get 100bhp more at $100 a month, I think it will seem like a good to have feature though I may know that I am being ripped off on the deal as a whole/over the product's lifetime.

[logicalidiot]

I thought it was just BMW, but seems like all manufacturers are joining the party. Oh god, future looks so bleak and I want to time travel back to live my prime during the good days (late 90s - early 2000s).

[GTO]

This, on cars that cost well over a crore! Makes Mercedes seem like a beggar. It's like staying in a suite at the Taj Hotels and the housekeeping tells you "sir, that extra pillow will cost you 1000 a night".

Numbnuts these people are. They are losing sight of what "true luxury" means.

Research has time & again shown that car owners H-A-T-E subscriptions. Except for a feature that needs to be updated and / or requires additional resources (e.g. onboard maps & navigation, connected car tech with emergency calls to a call center etc.), this is just plain ridiculous. Mercedes needs to realise it isn't a Netflix or Dropbox.

[msdivy]

I think the owners can participate in drag races where that 1-second matters, win, and pay for the subscription.

[astro-wolf]

A car that I bought is MY car. I treat it like a part of my own body.
This nonsense of subscription based engine power just means that company is in control of my car's engine. I just HATE it and would NEVER buy any car that comes with such shenanigans.

[Cresterk]

Pretty soon mercedes will just sell a blob and it can either behave like an A class or all the way to an S class depending on your subscription tier. Cancel your subscription and it won't start.

[shree_shell]

This is called desperation - when it is difficult to compete, innovate, maintain or increase profits. By the time we come out on the other side of this automotive tectonic shift - the landscape will tell us which automaker made it, and which did not.

[saket77]

Owner has already bought the entire car- with the fully capable hardware. They have paid for it. But the manufacturer has 'capped' or disabled extra power/ features through software only to make a quick buck by holding the owner ransom. It is not that the manufacturer has to 'provide for' something else from their side or deploy any resources to enable those features. It is already built in and paid for by the buyer.
This is unethical. This can even be challenged in the court of law in my opinion. I will wait for such a news and an outcome that will refrain other OEM from trying these cheap tricks.

This is more so cheap when coming from a Luxury car-maker like Mercedes. Or we are to deduce that they don't consider themselves a luxury brand anymore?

[veedub89]

I think these luxury manufacturers are paving the way for a time when no one actually buys a new luxury car.

You just own one through the subscription model.

Luxury cars (and cars in general, to an extent) are getting way too expensive. Incomes are not increasing at the same rate. So in order to still keep the factories running, most manufacturers would like you to have their cars at a small-ish monthly subscription amount.

Its a win-win for everyone, on paper. Consumers get to drive/own new fancy cars at a fraction of the cost of actually buying the car outright and the production line keeps on chugging along.

This scheme is obviously not new and is very similar to the lease model. But the younger generation doesn't understand 'lease'. 'Subscription' they understand well, because they 'subscribe' to almost everything in their lives.

[KPR]

I'm scary about future. I will not be surprised if I have to pay some amount to open my car's bonnet!