Volkswagen charging monthly fee to unlock full horsepower. Is this how the EV future looks like?

[merveille07]

I saw an article where VW supposedly limited a model's(ID.3) horsepower and required customer to pay a recurring or one time lump sum to unlock the full horsepower of the car. Is this the future of EV, where everything might be pegged to a monthly fee?

 

[Steveinarizona]

I saw an article where VW supposedly limited a model's(ID.3) horsepower and required customer to pay a recurring or one time lump sum to unlock the full horsepower of the car. Is this the future of EV, where everything might be pegged to a monthly fee?

car companies have been doing this for a while. See MB for its EQ series, Polestar and Tesla for example.

 

[merveille07]

car companies have been doing this for a while. See MB for its EQ series, Polestar and Tesla for example.

I didn't know. It's crazy to think you have to pay to unlock your car's full power

 

[Steveinarizona]

I didn't know. It's crazy to think you have to pay to unlock your car's full power

Car companies are trying to figure out ways to generate profits. For example, the principal difference between a BMW 330i and a 340i is the power (but actuated by different motors). Electric motors give car companies the ability to offer a vehicle with certain performance characteristics and offer an upgrade path without having to change hardware. Therefore, in my example, BMW would love to be able to offer the 330i owner an upgrade to the performance of a 340i for an additional charge. On the other side of the equation, the owner would save having to trade in his car to get the additional performance.

Lucid tried this for a short period including the DD Pro and SS Pro hardware and offering the upgrade for a charge after a trial period. But, apparently, it didn't work as a strategy for Lucid.

IMHO, done right this is not offensive. Done wrong, however, it can be very offensive.

 

[merveille07]

Car companies are trying to figure out ways to generate profits. For example, the principal difference between a BMW 330i and a 340i is the power (but actuated by different motors). Electric motors give car companies the ability to offer a vehicle with certain performance characteristics and offer an upgrade path without having to change hardware. Therefore, in my example, BMW would love to be able to offer the 330i owner an upgrade to the performance of a 340i for an additional charge. On the other side of the equation, the owner would save having to trade in his car to get the additional performance.

Lucid tried this for a short period including the DD Pro and SS Pro hardware and offering the upgrade for a charge after a trial period. But, apparently, it didn't work as a strategy for Lucid.

IMHO, done right this is not offensive. Done wrong, however, it can be very offensive.

Interesting

 

[TahoeMichael]

I think there's immense resistance amongst US consumers to a car company charging a monthly fee for features that don't require ongoing backend software services. BMW received a pretty big backlash when they floated a monthly fee for heated seats. That said, maybe a deeply discounted vehicle with an a-la-carte menu of monthly subscriptions for various options would be accepted by the market. Adding monthly fees onto the typical vehicle that has seen big increases in base price feels hard to swallow.