Mercedes, a subscription to boost electric cars – Corriere.it

Once upon a time German car manufacturera famous at one time to make available only as optionalon some models, the fifth gear. It’s about Mercedes and, in line with its tradition, it has announced that it will be possible to purchase some of its cars currently on the market options that increase the speed.

$1,200 for a second

Improve the performance of your car

in fact a wish that unites many people and Mercedes must have considered that offering aoption called Acceleration Increase could be attractive, so much so that he decided to introduce it on some of his own electric models of the EQ series. Thanks to a annual subscriptionAnd in fact it will be possible unlock additional power and enjoy afaster accelerationall at the cost of $1,200: the improvement in maximum power will be approx 60 horsepower for the EQE 350 and 87 horsepower for the EQS 450bringing them respectively to 349 horses and 443 total horses, enough to lower the shutter speed by just under 1 second from 0 to 100 km/h.

Currently arriving only in the US

At the moment it has not been specified whether the Acceleration Boost package will be available on other markets in addition to the US and on models other than the EQE 350 and EQS 450 (both sedan and SUV). Also check if the package is limited to one software update, perhaps remotely, or if it will be necessary to go to a dealership for more in-depth work on the car. The only sure thing that the car manufacturers practice to offer a subscription service for the most requested functions a growing trend and arises from dissemination of over-the-air update technologies (remotely) increasingly sophisticated on-board software. The builders are convinced that the future will own featured cars in which all the functionalitynot only those related to infotainment and comfort, but also mechanical and dynamic ones, may be remotely edited.

Same service from rivals too

In fact, Mercedes is not the only one: BMW’s choice caused a lot of uproar to offer in subscription a relatively basic function for the premium segment to which Bavarian cars belong, namely the steering wheel and heated seats. The prices are not excessive, it is respectively about 19 and 25 euros per month and it is also possible to choose to subscribe directly to a one-year subscription for 199 euros, as well as decide to permanently unlock the function, at a cost of 449 euros. The era of microtransactions also in the automotive world seems to have arrived and it is very probable that there will be more and more on-board options that in the future will only be available with this mode.

There is also the option to go slower

In fact, the Mercedes USA site already offers a long list list of subscription optionsfrom the one that allows theremote engine start to that for record video through the dashcambut, curiously, it is announced as an option is also coming which fits exactly as opposed to Acceleration increase. It’s about the Beginner Driver function and Valet Service modewhich, at the cost of suns $16 a yearallow to limit the maximum speed to 120 km/hif you want it to be used by a less experienced driver it’s at 80 kilometers per hour when you entrust it to a valetand, how it also obscures all sensitive data present in the applications.