Mercedes offers to unlock the full potential of its EVs for an extra $1,200 per year

[midian182]

WTF?! If you thought locking features in video games behind DLC, subscriptions, season passes, etc., was infuriating, spare a thought for owners of new Mercedes EQ luxury electric vehicles. The automaker is offering to unlock the cars' full performance—for the bargain price of $1,200 per year.

The Drive highlights the optional extra on Mercedes' online store: an "Acceleration Increase" subscription service for all its EQS or EQE cars. Increasing your vehicle's torque and maximum output costs $1,200 per year, or about one extra monthly payment; the 2022 Mercedes EQS has a base price of $103,360.

Hedge-fund managers who decide they want to pay the equivalent of $100 per month for something that should come as standard—or a one-off upgrade payment—will receive a "noticeable improvement" in 0 - 60mph acceleration of 0.8 to 1 second. The feature also promises to change the overall characteristics of the electric motors.

May as well just give Mercedes direct access to your bank account

Buyers are, of course, paying for a software update that improves performance, so how Mercedes justifies this as an ongoing yearly payment—and one that's $1,200 annually—is unclear.

We've been here before, sadly. It was reported in July that one of the optional extras BMW offered in its vehicles for a monthly cost was heated seats, which cost around $18 per month. It also offers heated steering wheels for $12 per month. But those seem positively generous compared to Mercedes' subscription.

The response to BMW's heated seats DLC was for hackers to devise a workaround, so the same thing could happen with Mercedes, though the companies will doubtlessly call these warranty violations.

From the $2.50 horse armor in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion to the Overwatch 2 controversy, monetization, be it in games, hardware, vehicles, or anything else, tends to bring a lot of anger from consumers. Ultimately, however, there are usually enough customers who buy these extras to make the outrage worth it for the companies raking in the cash. As an example, the free-to-play Diablo Immortal has the lowest user score for a PC game on Metacritic (0.3), yet it earned $50 million in its first month.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/96764-mercedes-offers-unlock-full-potential-evs-extra-1200.html

 

[NicktheWVAHick]

My last CLS required that I pay monthly “subscription” fees after 2 years for such basic things as live traffic, speed alert, maintenance reminders, and vehicle locator. WTF? What’s next, working seat belts and trunk access??? Never again.

 

[dangh]

This is ridiculous. But a good think to ask dealer for before buying anything.

 

[m4a4]

It's like they're begging for gov't intervention to make this stuff illegal...

 

[VitalyT]

It's like they're begging for gov't intervention to make this stuff illegal...

It is a stupidity tax, and as such, it will always be legal. Mercedes is the ultimate trash, for the gullible and those who's got more money than sense.

 

[Qrox]

Let me correct the title for you.

Mercedes won't slow down its cars for customers who pay $1,200 per year

Should be illegal for companies to give your hardware and slow them down with software.

 

[m4a4]

It is a stupidity tax, and as such, it will always be legal. Mercedes is the ultimate trash, for the gullible and those who's got more money than sense.

You see, I'd rather not see this cancer spread further either. Ignore it here, and it'll keep moving down towards more affordable cars...

 

[Uncle Al]

Yep .... I won't be buying on of their "cash cows" any time soon!

 

[yannus]

Time for people to have more freedom, time to have open source hardware and workshop everywhere and time for corporations to be replaced by real people who care for real people.

 

[Nobina]

If it's software locked people will eventually figure out how to do it themselves.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Stupidest thing I ever heard.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Time for people to have more freedom, time to have open source hardware and workshop everywhere and time for corporations to be replaced by real people who care for real people.

I look forward to buying a car from your car manufacturing business in the future.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Got to love the Euro trash these days. First the scumbags at BMW asking for extra payments to unlock features like seat heating for a mere $1500 in Australia IIRC, on a car that already cost $70K. You can't make this sort of crap up, but here we are and soon all the scumbags will try and get in on the act.

 

[sreams]

My last CLS required that I pay monthly “subscription” fees after 2 years for such basic things as live traffic, speed alert, maintenance reminders, and vehicle locator. WTF? What’s next, working seat belts and trunk access??? Never again.

To be fair... don't all of those things require an active cellular data plan? I suppose an ongoing cost for that is to be expected... unlike a performance boost, which requires no data connection.

 

[toooooot]

While it is sad to hear this, it is also an opportunity for other car makers to advertise cars without this nonsense.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

To be fair... don't all of those things require an active cellular data plan? I suppose an ongoing cost for that is to be expected... unlike a performance boost, which requires no data connection.

Yes, but the cellular data plan isnt included int he charge. The charge is merely for permission to use the service, you have to pay for the data separately.

 

[MyIOnU]

Next you have to watch 5 minutes of ads before you can start the car

 

[Burty117]

Next you have to watch 5 minutes of ads before you can start the car

Stop giving them ideas...

 

[BuckarooBonzaii]

And car companies will be chasing after SDV. I understand Hyundai is chasing after Tesla to make their EVs and newer ICE cars SDV. Only Police will be happy that your car goes slower than theirs or have the ability to slow down your car for you.

 

[Underdog]

Somehow this article makes be think of Iphones for some reason. If they can slow down a phone to "allegedly" compensate for battery aging, they could also slow it down to start with and charge extra for pumping up the performance. When all consumer products are software & firmware controlled all sorts of ripoffs are possible.

 

[yannus]

I look forward to buying a car from your car manufacturing business in the future.

Idealism even though its fruits are sometimes in a distant future can be quite surprising. 20 years ago nobody would have believed that Blender could be competitive. The seeds you sow, the fruits you get. Corporations fruits are bitter. When "people own nothing and are happy", probably we'll remember our conversation and wish we had a neighbor with a workshop.

 

[Hodor]

"Battery empty? Click here to download more battery."

 

[tkabou]

The world is rapidly moving into a black hole of stupidity and monetization of nearly every single feature. By people accepting/agreeing to said payments, they’re inviting more of it. Stockholm Syndrome.