Mercedes Reveals EQE and EQS 'Acceleration Increase' Subscription Pricing
 

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a43713075/mercedes-benz-eqe350-eqs450-acceleration-increase-subscription-pricing/?utm_medium=social-media&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=socialflowFBCD&src=socialflowFBCAD

• The Mercedes-Benz EQE350 and EQS450 can gain power and reduce acceleration times via an over-the-air (OTA) software update.
• Available on both sedan and SUV models, the EQE350 adds 60 hp and the EQS450 adds 80 hp; their zero-to-60-mph claims also drop between 0.8 and 1.0 second.
• A one-time fee costs $1950 on the EQE and $2950 on the EQS, however, monthly/yearly subscriptions cost $60/$600 and $90/$900, respectively.

What a scam :thumbdn::thumbdn:

It's not a scam at all. Anyone who bought the vehicles bought them as is and was happy enough with the overall proposition to buy. They have an opportunity to optionally buy up some extra performance, something MB obviously feels the powertrain can handle as this will be warrantied - so those who keep their vehicle stock are running with a powertrain that isn't stressed and is likely to be reliable.

Sure, MB could offer it for free, but there's nothing wrong with charging more and those numbers aren't terrible.

Hmmm... Ok...
A few month ago I was outraged when I heard on here that Tesla was charging for OTA updates for performance boost.
Now MB is doing it too.

BUT, over time I been thinking about this a lot and hearing everyone ideas.
If the mfg is covering the warranty on the car during the life of the HP upgrade boost, is this not at least some value added?

An upgrade in HP is sure to stress and strain the driveline and electrical switch gear.
Is the price fair?

I'm still working on that one. lol

PS- waiting for OP to chime in on ideas... :dance1:

Like I said a few years ago, more and more of the cars will be restricted and OTA updates will make it impossible to ever get around the software. You never really own cars like this

I'm a huge proponent of EV's and more modern technology, but I will never be a fan of subscription-based features. In theory, your vehicle will become worthless because all of its features can be taken away by the manufacturer the moment you try to sell it. As Striker alluded to, this puts these cars effectively in lease-only situations because it effectively kills any value it has as a used vehicle.

Yes, that's the case with Tesla and M3 / my LR : you buy the boost, make it to near equivalent to a M3P performance (note: there is hardware difference as well so not completely same). It is retained through the life of the car.

If you think about it, all these "options" like speed boost, fsd can be freely added as well (via software) for a new car opposed to lower the car price. This may be a strategy Tesla may do later on once the uptake of fsd is low.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...c16ca00326.jpg

I like the idea. 60-80 hp is alot. But so is $2k for ECU tuning. That's almost the entire cost of an HID system option back in the 2000's.

It's way overpriced. It's usually under $1000 for 90-150HP increases on common forced induction engine with no hardware changes, and no issues with emissions compliance. Even the small 2.0T engines pick up around 80hp and 100tq for $450

Stage 2 and up is different but since that requires actual changes it's not a fair comparison.

https://www.goapr.com/products/softw...U-40T-EA824-A8
https://www.goapr.com/products/softw...U-40T-EA824-S8
https://www.goapr.com/products/softw...-30T-EA837-EVO
https://www.goapr.com/products/softw...EA888-3-L-IS20

If Tesla charged $400-500 for this I would endorse it as a must have but at 2k it is out of line with the market. I am only willing to pay that much for a custom stage 2+ tune or buying the entire software suite to use myself, the only other exception would be a rare/strange engine like my W12 that very few people know how to tune at all but even that thing only cost me $1200 and I picked up 65hp on an NA engine.

Yeah but this is a Mercedes we're talking about here!

Okay you got me there lol!

I saw this article yesterday, and I could never justify something like that with regard to power. I am not sure if some of these manufacturers are thinking this is something akin to say like when a person buys an extended warranty or say like an Onstar system subscription, but power in a car is either you have it or you do not. The thing that troubles me is if you do take the 'boost' regardless of price, is the rest of the vehicle safely able to handle that boost. One thing I was looked at when bumping up power is what is the effect on the rest of the vehicle's systems and can it support it. Obviously electrical vehicles are a different dynamic.

I would, if I wanted the power, buy it one time, and then it would apply to me and all other owners. No different than if I went from say getting a V8 instead of a V6 or a turbocharged instead of a naturally aspirated engine. I think the larger problem here on the manufacturer's side is their marketing scheme here needs some serious rethinking. An off comment for me is that I have seen a lot of bad marketing lately out of a lot of places, and I truly wonder how much of it is done by people sitting behind a computer and not going out and not doing real world research. The best marketing people are the ones who do the field research and the marketing. This obviously was not done here.

For an MB I think I would be lucky to get a leather wrapped steering wheel upgrade will probably cost $2,000 anyway. haha

Me too.
If I'm buying an upgrade for the car, I would like it to add at least a little extra value when I sell it.

On my Zupra:

- you can get jb4 just to trick the stock ECU into running higher boost for $600. Gain about 50hp, no warranty

- you can get bm3 to do an ots ecu reflash gaining about 75+ hp for $600+, no warranty

- you can do a custom tune with like eCUTEk for $2500 and gain 100+ HP custom tailored to your mods, but no warranty.

- you can do a full standalone system for $3000+$1500 tuning to ensure your ECU is "untouched" as well for $100+ hp

This doesn't take into account any special ethanol or race fuel you'll need or extra mods as well, or the typical retuning you'll need for different conditions, etc. And if you modify things (or worse, blow crap up), and take it to the dealer....good luck.l; Audi has automatic checks now to see if u modified ur ECU and automatically void your warranty.

So $2k may seem a lot, but it's actually reasonable if you account for full factory support of it.

Unless your Audi dealer specifically doesn't care and makes sure to note your tunes were untouched and offer tune uploading.....

Depends on the dealer