What I don’t like is that the original buyer has already bought this technology/upgrade in the original transaction . It’s already there imbedded. Just needs to be unlocked via “extra charge” down load via software. It also opens the door for complete manufacture control over the end user and I disagree with that as well. This is just pure greed by the manufacturer…

 

I can understand that argument, but I think the way to look at it is that the original buyer bought the car with whatever power output the factory delivered. The potential is there to unlock more, but that's true with every car because no real-world car is sold with the engine delivering its absolute maximum possible performance. There is always headroom, and the opportunity is that it's just easier to unlock the potential with an EV than it is on an ICE vehicle.

My F Type was advertised with 500hp, other Jags with 550hp or 575 hp were available and the reality was that they all had the exact same engines, they were identical. The only difference was a tune, and the difference in cost to get that extra power (when the engines with different outputs were available on the same car) was a lot more than this MB option.

If you're happy enough with the proposition to buy as is you got what you paid for, the ability to unlock more power is just an option if you want it and are willing to pay for it. Whether that's greed/gouging or opportunity and value is up to the customer.

Again, there's a lot of value in preserving factory warranty and not exposing you to arguments about whether or not your aftermarket tune caused an issue if your car is in warranty, has a powertrain issue, and your tune is discovered.

As for opening the door, it's already open. Pretty much every manufacturer has something available by subscription, sometimes after an included period. It's up to the customer to decide whether the manufacturer is offering flexibility and value or gouging. Sometimes like with BMW and their CarPlay subscription there's enough customer blowback to have them rethink. As always, the market decides if something is worth it or not.

 

To your point, all manufactures build in overhead. My IS350 was rated 306 hp crank (287 at the wheels), but with a $500 RR Racing ECU tune, I could unlock 18 more HP. And If I wanted to get to 450 hp to the wheels, $6,800 fo their supercharger kit plus tune. Both btw, state that they are not road or emissions legal in many states, and give a warning that your engine should be in "top shape" and any engine/drivetrain warranty would go bye bye.

I have a friend who spent roughly $5K on his 10th gen Civic Si to go from 205 hp to 270ish hp at the wheels (bigger turbo, exhaust, performance downpipe, Performance Intercooler, tune, and 40 percent Ethanol) and here was the result about a month later on test run:




The stuff pouring out under his car is not tears, BTW. And do you think his warranty covered that? So hey, I'll happily pay $2K for an EV power upgrade

 

Oh,... there's some tears in there too, I promise. lolol

 

Oh yeah, for sure. Since then he blew a fully built block he spent $8500 on, and a transmission. Last time I talked to him he had bought a set of special gears to handle the torque. Problem is, they are way shorter, so in 6th gear he's nearly 4k rpm at 70 mph. He has no resonator, no CAT, a huge dp, I can't imagine the drone.....

 

More subscriptions... sweet /s.

I hate everything about this.

 

To me this is no different than tuning a car, or me paying to code on my intelligent lighting. I so t have an issue with this