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Posted on 08/19/2025 9:39:59 AM PDT by packagingguy
Volkswagen is now offering owners of its ID.3 EV hatchback the option to boost their car’s performance — for a monthly subscription fee. Instead of following the traditional model of offering improved performance through upgraded components, VW has locked its car’s true potential behind a software subscription.
Auto Express reports that German automaker Volkswagen has introduced a subscription-based model for unlocking the full potential of its ID.3 electric car, a new model available in the UK. While the ID.3 Pro and Pro S models are listed on the configurator as producing 201 horsepower, buyers must pay a monthly subscription fee of £16.50 ($22.29) to access the car’s maximum output of 228 horsepower.
This subscription, which comes after a one-month free trial, is nearly three times the cost of a standard Netflix subscription with ads. Owners can also opt for a lifetime subscription priced at £649 ($877), which remains tied to the vehicle even if it is sold.
Volkswagen states that the performance upgrade increases the net power by 27 horsepower and the maximum torque from 265Nm to 310Nm without affecting the car’s range. As the ID.3 is registered at 228 horsepower from the factory, owners are not required to inform their insurance company about the upgrade.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
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The service center at most dealerships is the biggest high profit subscription service in history.
This is what I hate about anything software related: you don’t own it, you “license” it. You check a box that says you agree. If people stop agreeing, the practice will end. You have to be willing to say no.
Agreed. “You will own nothing and like it.”
The new place I just moved to in Oregon is building endless rows of apartments. I haven’t seen a single family home built anywhere. But there must be thousands of apartments going up.
Unfortunately there are a whole bunch of stupid people out there who will pay it. Then it will spread and become an industry standard with all makers.
I’ll ride a Mule first...
Yep, The German cars have declined significantly in quality, as has their country and their leadership. It will only get worse.
I work at a (small) automotive OEM. I do see another side to this.
The engineering for ‘options’ can be very expensive, all the additional tooling, engineering of two versions, testing & validation, diagnostics, etc. - it can be millions in overhead, above and beyond the cost of the resulting parts that go into a car.
Therefore, it might be cheaper to just make one high-end version, with all options, but enable certain things in software on demand. If you chose not to buy the software enabled features, even though they exist in hardware in your car, you have not paid for all the additional engineering for those features - enabling the OEM to sell the same vehicle at different price points to a larger segment of potential customers. Customers may still choose to purchase features after the sale of the car, if they realize they should have purchased an option to begin with.
It’s not intuitive. You feel like you’ve paid for the feature - but you really haven’t. You got the HW for free(ish) - you actually pay for it when it’s enabled. As a consumer, I don’t like it, but I understand the economic reasoning.
If the engine development costs were extremely high (which they usually are), having different performance options, controlled through software, allows you to spread the cost of development across more customers because of the price spread. If a customer wants more power, they only have to upgrade via a software purchase. It’s about lowering engineering costs, when everyone isn’t paying for all the hardware features in terms of the engineering behind them.
Boeing to customer:
“We will sell you a new 737 with a de-rated engine that produces 90% of normal thrust. But, for an annual subscription fee we will take out the electronic control mechanize that de-rates the engine. The fee is a mere 1000 dollars a flight.”
Customer to Boeing:
“Do you have the phone number for Air Bus? I need to make a phone call.”
Some good points. There is a difference, however, between buying something once, and having to buy the same thing again and again and again.
This is why I will never buy another Adobe product.
IBM once had two models of small office laser printers. One had an output speed of 5 ppm, the other had a speed of 10 ppm. The only difference was a firmware unlock you received if you bought the 10ppm model.
IBM did not do well in the small office laser printer business.
Just part of the reason I like driving old vehicles. I even like taking them to the mechanic because, every time I write the mechanic a check, I think about all the car payments I’m *not* having to pay.
Typical scenario - investors who sit in the boardroom demanded that stock price (revenue) be boosted. Some brilliant MBA exec (or two) then came up with a brilliant idea - lets introduce the subscription model ! (Applause in the boardroom)
worked for Microsoft.
Buy American. We have a Buick and a Ford in our garage.
I actually suspect we are moving more to a 100% rental type model.
Cars have just become WAY too expensive.
50-80k for a pretty standard car?
That is a HOUSE!
if they rolled all of the expenses, tax, title, reg and insurance into a weekly rental fee. and you could drop it off and pick up a different one every week month for a +/- fee. it would probably be a winner. and likely the way things are going.
far better than paying $600+/ mo for an 8 year old car that is out of warranty and constantly requires service. Or worse, an 8 year old EV that has a max 30% battery!!
The Japanese would never think to do such a thing.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
I do believe Toyota has tried this.
PASS....Performance as a Service
The difference is that going from engine A to engine B is a hardware upgrade. In this instance the additional power is already delivered and paid for, VW is simply offering a different setting in the installed software.
My truck has ‘sport mode’ and it makes a noticeable difference on acceleration, how long gears are held, steering response, etc. I just press a button. Same with a towing mode, the software tells components how to perform. No subscription needed.
It seems a greedy move by VW and I hope other auto manufacturers see this as a competitive differentiation (why pay for something you already have?).
The new MS Word is total BS, you can't use any of the features you painfully learned to use over the years, by their new theft-by-subscription model. Same with Adobe.
“It seems a greedy move by VW and I hope other auto manufacturers see this as a competitive differentiation (why pay for something you already have?).”
It seems like a REALLY stupid move..
This opens up a whole cottage industry of hacking cars.
Or, selling “Black Boxes” to unlock your car’s options/ potential.
Preach the word man! Good post
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