…Volkswagen, who are taking that extra step towards eventual self-immolation:
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.
Considering that sales of the ID.3 outside Yurp can probably be measured in single figures per month, nobody Over Here should care about this. (And if this lawsuit succeeds, well…)
But in this case of bastardy, it’s very definitely the principle of the thing that matters.
Fuck them, and the batteries that power their accountants’ laptops.
Gotta say that it’s this kind of chiseling that makes me want one of these oh so badly:
Anything without a chip or batteries will do, come to think of it. Even a replica with a (non-electric carburetor-fed) VW Beetle engine.
I think the future may bring back something from the past, many years ago people would pay someone a one time fee to hack or fix their cable box to give them all the channels available without getting bent over monthly by the cable company.
The auto manufacturers are slowly becoming just like the cable company with monthly fees.
Ivan in the garage next to his house accepts a one time CASH ONLY fee to unlock all of the features of your vehicle.
Does “Right to repair” cover this?
yep, I’m not buying a subscription to a car.
Yes, that is too much like Bill Gate’s Office software subscriptions.
And with “capacitive touch buttons”, VW is starting to resemble GM’s adding un-asked-for whizbang geegaws to their formerly-good LS engines. (Active Fuel Management, Variable Valve Timing, Direct GAS Fuel Injection, etc.)
According to the article on the lawsuit, it seems Volkswagen allows the cruise control to be activated when car that is barely moving. What the hell were they thinking?
Where there is a program lock there is someone smarter than the code jockeys at VW to get around it.
This is akin to BMW having a subscription for heated seats. I assure you, they’re not giving you the hardware out of the kindness of their hearts. You’re paying up front for the technology and again to use the tech. Screw’em. Wouldn’t buy any of their products even on the used market.
A new startup would easily move into the top 4 with limited electronics, no tracking, no kill switch (screw the gov while we’re at it) and the ability to perform general maintenance without going to a mechanic. Automated chainsaws in the doors for carjackers on the base models.
If they would make that in a 4WD pickup then take my money!
You are thinking about this wrong, well according to BMW at least. Basically, a new Beemer is an app with wheels. It’s moving to a utility model where you subscribe to features (Nav, heated seats, audio, performance, range etc) so it’s opex not capex based. When I bought my i4 the salesman said the car is already “location aware” – always on, you can’t turn it off. So, miss a payment, they can disable your car remotely and there is fuck all you can do about it. They know where it is to the meter so they can just come round and repo it. He could see a service where like Uber, you just order a bmw for the day specced the way you want.
It’s a heresy for me, but my grand daughter just shrugged and said “why own one?” She also totally got the new BMW idea of luxury- no dead tree inside, no dead cow. She got in and in five minutes had reconfigured the car to her personal taste and saved it.
That’s an awful lot of words to say “BMW is Satan”.
You will be pleased to know I have taken steps to restore my environmental credentials. I have bought myself an early (67) retirement present and swapped the above mentioned i4 for a 2023 (last of the fully ICE) M5.
Slightly ridiculous, it has 600 horsepower out of the box.
You bought yourself a real beast! Now, to really be an environmental super hero, save all the bald tires you’re going to generate and burn them on Earth Day!
My neighbor in berb’s of the ATL is on year 8 or 9 on a 356 replica build. He has a 200 Hp injected flat 4 mated to a 5 speed transaxle. It has all the creature comforts and the handling/suspension upgrades. He is in the 90% range of being complete. He has plans of it becoming his daily driver. He has done all the work and sourced parts from discount sources.