Mercedes-Benz Paywalls “Acceleration Increase” on Its $100,000+ EVs
When you buy a car, you buy what you see, right? Mercedes latest add-on for your new car does away with this age-old “primitive” sales approach, instead offering to unlock optimum performance on your new Mercedes EQ for an annual fee of $1,200.
The subscription will unlock performance already present in the vehicle; it’s just that Mercedes has decided to add a paywall to stop you from using it unless you’re willing to pay for the privilege.
Mercedes Locks Top Performance Behind a Paywall
Mercedes' Acceleration Increase subscriptionwill set you back $1,200/year (before tax!) to unlock the “maximum output of your Mercedes-EQ.” Subscribing unlocks the DYNAMIC SELECT drive program, which allows you to shorten the 0-60 mph time by up to one second.
The subscription does not deliver any new physical hardware. It only unlocks performance already present on the Mercedes-EQ EQE and Mercedes-EQ EQS EVs.
This, on an electric vehicle starting at over $100,000, is a poor look, especially as the performance is already present in the car. Mercedes just wants you to pay more to unlock it. And not just a one-off fee either, like with other premium car add-ons. You’ll be forking out $1,200 annually to keep the performance boost.
The Subscription Model Is Coming to Luxury Cars
Taking a leaf from the book of nearly all major tech companies in the modern era,car manufacturers are turning to subscription modelsto keep users paying for the goods beyond the initial sale. Thus ensuring the profits keep rolling in years after someone has bought a vehicle from them.
Mercedes isn’t the first company to roll out a subscription, mind. As reported byBloomberg, in August 2022, BMW introduced an $18/month subscription to unlock the heated seats in several of its premium models. The reaction to that announcement was about as popular as you can imagine, considering thatthe heated seats were already installed in the cars!
Car Subscription Models Are Anti-Consumer
Tesla, Ford, Cadillac, and Audi are just some of the car companies that are considering or have previously considered making certain features only available by subscription.
Thankfully, we haven’t seen too many of these issues crop up as yet. But as with most things, once the premium companies roll out subscription models that keep the money flowing in, other companies will follow suit.
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