- Mercedes-Benz Group AG (OTC:DMLRY) plans to charge owners of its upcoming line of expensive electric cars a subscription fee of $1,200 a year to boost their ability to accelerate quickly, New York Post reports.
- The subscription package, designed for Mercedes' upcoming EQ all-electric models, resembles Tesla Inc's (NASDAQ:TSLA) "Ludacris mode" introduced in 2016, which gives drivers an acceleration boost for a one-time fee of $10,000.
- The package will only cost car owners $100 a month.
- Similar performance improvements typically cost well over $1,200 if paid for upfront. Still, the move toward subscription car features means owners cannot resell a vehicle for its features, as they would if the components were built in.
- The package will shave off just under one second on getting from zero to 60 miles per hour, Bloomberg reports.
- It will deactivate if the customer does not pay the fee again in another 12 months.
- "Fine tuning of the electric motors increases the maximum motor output of your Mercedes-EQ by 20 to 24%," the company said.
- Mercedes offered the function on some of its flagship EQS sedan and EQS SUV models and some of its EQE sedan and EQE SUV models.
- Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (OTC:BMWYY) faced so much backlash in July for trying to charge $18 a month for heated seats that the company released a public statement defending the decision.
- Price Action: TSLA shares traded higher by 1.94% at $186.75 in the premarket on the last check Friday.
- Photo Via Company
