Mercedes Locks Faster Acceleration On Their Electric Cars Unless You Pay A RM5K Annual Fee
The feature is called 'Acceleration Increase'.
By Hafiz Zainuddin — 29 Nov 2022, 05:18 PM
There's no denying that microtransactions are quite a normal business practice in this day and age
Often appearing in video games, microtransactions allow users to purchase add-ons or virtual goods in their games by paying extra money for in-game credits.
Although it is more relevant in gaming, microtransactions can also appear in other industries.
The automotive industry is also starting to introduce microtransactions into their products, as Mercedes-Benz is locking an acceleration feature behind an annual subscription fee for their Mercedes-EQ EQE and Mercedes-EQ EQS electric car models
Essentially, the 'Acceleration Increase' feature locks faster acceleration behind a paywall that you can access by paying an annual fee of USD 1,200 (roughly RM5,408).
The subscription is set to unlock the performance the car can already achieve by allowing you to access it only when you pay for it.
Mercedes also explained that the acceleration boost is merely a software improvement, as the car's hardware is still capable on its own, as reported by engadget.
However, Mercedes isn't the first automotive company to lock a feature behind a paywall
According to The Verge, BMW also introduced heated seat subscriptions at USD18 (RM81.20) a month, even though the heated seats were already installed in the car.
