- Volkswagen offers an “optional power upgrade for costs” on two cars
- Performance upgrade increases the power of 27 hp
- Subscription packages have already attracted criticism from buyers
Volkswagen will oblige customers to pay additional costs to unlock the full power of the ID 3 pro and ID3 pro S models it was revealed, with £ 16.50 (around £ 22 £ / $ 34) per month required to complete 228 hp of the vehicle.
Auto Express discovered that the two models were listed as producing 150 kW or 201 horsepower on the company’s British configurator, the small print revealing that the owners could only access the complete factory capacity of 228 hp (170 kW) via an “optional power upgrade for costs”. “”
Buyers can choose to pay monthly, in which case the vehicle would return to its lower power adjustment when sold, or separate with £ 649 (around $ 880 / $ 1,350 in) for a single lifestyle that remains with the vehicle.
In a press release provided to Auto Express, a Volkswagen spokesperson said that offering it more energy to customers was “nothing new” and that those who were looking to buy an ID 3 can choose to have a “more sporty driving experience” without having to get involved in a more expensive vehicle from the start.
Volkswagen is also not the first or the only manufacturer to offer additional performance that can be unlocked for costs, as the Optimization Program designed Polestar can improve power delivery of Polestar and Volvo models.
Essentially, upgrading the software “ closing the engine, modifies the accelerator response and improves the speed of automatic speed changes for a more aggressive reader, but the fact without risk of canceling the manufacturer’s warranty.
Prepare for a future -based future
Unlocking some additional performance is not new, as there are hundreds of spare companies that will tease some additional horses from an engine if you are ready to cancel your manufacturer’s warranty.
That said, we are entering a new era of the vehicle defined by the software where a number of upgrades and improvements are now available on a simple live update.
Tesla allows its customers to take advantage of its highly autonomous driving modes for costs, for example, while Polestar offers performance upgrades on Polestar 2 models.
Many industry experts to which I have spoken openly admit that the offer of digital and physical features via a subscription presents a lucrative profitability analysis to manufacturers who seek to recover the losses of the sale of lukewarm electric vehicles and guarantee future profitability.
But the approach has not lowered well with the paying public sectors, because BMW aroused strong criticism when it asked its customers to pay additional costs for functionalities such as animated seats.
The company said that it would allow owners to take advantage of technology if necessary (for example, in the depths of winter), but customers have requested access to a functionality which, according to them, should have been part of the list of the list.
Although unlocking a little additional performance on demand seems to be fun, some buyers will be wary of car manufacturers invoicing recurring costs for features that have already been standard (or a single optional payment) on a new vehicle.
It could also be the case that payment of a low amount each month to unlock a functionality becomes more expensive than when customers could oppose it squarely, with incrementality price increases in Netflix style, which makes driving more expensive than it should be.
