VW subscription to unlock more power from your car

[MB140]

So VW, already struggling financially due to the ever increasing competition in the EV market has decided to introduce a subscription model to unleash more power from your EV.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/volkswagen/367566/fo...

I mean there already overpriced, mediocre quality crap is already struggling to sell. Which idiot at VW thought it a good idea to introduce a subscription model to increase power. I’m sure the Chinese, Tesla and Korean brands must be chuckling.

BMW already tried this for heated seats etc and it backfired. I for one wouldn’t buy any car that requires a subscription to use any options or power level. You can just jog right on.

I can actually see this costing VW customers.

Edited by MB140 on Saturday 16th August 19:28

[andy43]

The stench of desperation. Also see BMWs rent-a-heated-steering-wheel.

[Countdown]

Surely people will just hack it, won’t they?

[Screechmr2]

VW: with your new ev do you want mediocre performance or pay a subscription for 'it's ok i suppose' performance?

Could've at least given the car a decent amount of power. 228bhp in an ev is on low considering how easy it is to get power from an electric motor.

[georgeyboy12345]

Countdown said:

Surely people will just hack it, won’t they?

Are there any automotive electrical specialists that offer such services like this yet for BMWs? I haven’t seen any

[MB140]

Countdown said:

Surely people will just hack it, won’t they?

Unlikely with the latest gen of encryption that is being forced in via legislation soon.

The government are going to make it extremely difficult (if not impossible) for you to modify the code controlling your car.

[Hub]

201 -> 228 bhp? I can't see people bothering. What a con.

[redstar1]

Hub said:

201 -> 228 bhp? I can't see people bothering. What a con.

It's not the point though. Was considering going to look at VW evs but even though I'd never be interested in this 'service', they can foxtrot oscar and we'll just buy a cheap piece of st chinese car instead.

[Inbox]

wkers!

Anything to try and extract more cash from people, shouldn't really be surprised but hey if the want to destroy the tatters that are left of their reputation then crack on.

Reading article it is worse than just a bit of extra oomph, the car gets registered as 228bhp so you pay insurance, etc at the higher power rating but don't get to enjoy it without paying extra.

That really is a fk you from VW.

Edited by Inbox on Saturday 16th August 20:00

[AddyT.]

Saw this comment on a different thread recently, but to add, I went into a VW main dealer earlier this week to have a reversing camera retrofitted to my wife's Golf R...long story from another thread. I was there for six hours and was watching the footfall whilst I was there. And the answer and yes it is summer holidays......very little to almost zero. I was pretty shocked. A lot of electric cars prioritised in the showroom and I think I saw all of 2 people coming in to be taken round a car and one wasn't for an EV! Their service department were clearly much busier than the Sales team. How things have changed....

[Andeh1]

Wonder how many would be up in arms if this was sold upfront as a performance pack?

[CG2020UK]

It’s amazing how in the space of 10 years VW have just became so incompetent

[Screechmr2]

Andeh1 said:

Wonder how many would be up in arms if this was sold upfront as a performance pack?

Not really a performance pack though. For an ev 228bhp is pathetic. They could call it the tortoise pack.

[plfrench]

Why is this so much worse than paying for a Polestar performance upgrade map on a second-hand Volvo?

Is it just because EV grrrr, or is there a genuine reason for people being so upset by it

[samoht]

It's interesting how poorly received this is, compared to the somewhat similar downloadable for the Polestar 2 Dual Motor, where I've not heard so many of the same criticisms.

With that, the car launched in 2020 and they released a downloadable performance software update in Nov 2021, offering an upgrade from 400 to 475hp along with revised pedal mapping.

- Polestar only offer outright purchase for the upgrade, whereas VW offer a monthly subscription offer too which is always unpopular.
- Polestar came out with the upgrade later for cars already on the road, so it came across as a genuine effort on their part to find some headroom in the existing drivetrain to offer more power, vs cynically holding something back from the start to extract more cash for.
- And partly, well, 400hp is already quite a bit for a midsize hatch, so I don't think people feel too hard-done-by, and another 75hp feels like a reasonable size boost to pay for.

I guess the bottom line is, (a) establish the base model first as a desirable option, then offer the upgrade later and (b) offer a one-time upgrade only, not temporary subscription where you'll take it away again if payment isn't kept up.

[bloomen]

plfrench said:

Is it just because EV grrrr, or is there a genuine reason for people being so upset by it

Subscription?

But there's also a one time buy option.

With cars being so configurable and reachable from afar, this is the tip of the iceberg.

[Stick Legs]

Most of the instinctive resistance to this is because our experience from software companies is things you once bought, like operating systems and programs, used to be paid up front with upgrade packages and that was the end of it.

These slowly morphed over time to becoming things that were free, then things you could upgrade vis subscription, then things that once you subscribed to removed functionality or crappified to completely with 'updates' that you paid the subscription out of sheer frustration.

The fear is cars will go this way.

An no-one but the companies and their share holders want it.

Google Louis Rossman & Clippy for more information.

[Mad Maximus]

I can understand it for some things like self driving which needs constant work and updates but for hardware that’s already there and just needs a on switch. Nah. I am not the target market whatsoever but I might be at some point.

[Mad Maximus]

Screechmr2 said:

Andeh1 said:

Wonder how many would be up in arms if this was sold upfront as a performance pack?

Not really a performance pack though. For an ev 228bhp is pathetic. They could call it the tortoise pack.

I don’t think that’s the point.

It isn’t an add on it’s already in the car. It’s the same car as the “lesser model” all it needs is turning on. If it were an extra electric motor that needs fitting then that’s different.

[Richtea1970]

The wife has an IDBuzz which she loves but when she bought it we had an app from which you could remotely view the state of charge/start&stop a charge/pre heat or pre cool the car and also see where the car was currently located. Really useful stuff and we used it regularly. After a year or so it all stopped working and those functions are now only available if I 'subscribe' to those features, about £200 a year if I recall?
I thought that was a pee take at the time, so this doesn't surprise me in the least. I