The next upgrade - brakes by subscription? Volkswagen taught cars to take tribute from their owners (4 photos)

Volkswagen decided that their cars should bring in income every month and rolled out such innovations that the Europeans were a little sad.





Imagine: you buy a brand new Volkswagen ID.3 Pro, an electric hatchback that on paper promises 228 horses under the hood, but in reality gives 201 hp. Why? Because the other 27 "horses" are locked behind a paid subscription! Yes, yes, like in a streaming service: pay monthly, or sit on the basic version. Volkswagen has launched this "feature" in the UK, and it looks like it will soon roll it out across Europe.

The idea is simple: for £16.50 a month (that's about €19.50) you unlock the full power of 228bhp and torque from 265Nm to 310Nm. Acceleration to 100km/h becomes a little more lively, but the range remains the same, and you don't need to re-register your insurance because the car is initially registered to the maximum. The alternatives? An annual subscription for £165 or a lifetime subscription for £649 - and this option is tied to the car, so if you sell it, the new owner can "upgrade" too.



Volkswagen positions this as "flexibility": like, if you don't want to overpay right away, pay as you go. But let's be honest, guys, this is pure greed under the sauce of innovation. You bought a car for 40+ thousand euros, and for all the stuffing you still have to pay extra, like for a premium account in a game.

Imagine, you're racing along the autobahn, overtaking someone, and suddenly your subscription runs out, and your "electric train" loses 27 horses. "Sorry, renew your payment to continue acceleration." Sounds like a joke from a dystopia, but no, this is reality for ID.3 owners in Europe.

And this is not the first time that automakers have reached into the pockets of motorists for software features. Remember how BMW tried to monetize heated seats? Or Audi with a subscription for headlights and climate control? Volkswagen simply raised the stakes by locking the engine power itself.





Volkswagen ID.3 (left) and ID.4 (right)

But Volkswagen is not joking about the security of its scheme. If some garage genius decides to hack the system to remove the limit for free, the company threatens to sue. Or, at the very least, voiding the warranty. "This could lead to legal consequences," they warn.

Ha, as if hackers wouldn't find a way around this in a week! Social media is already in full swing: people on X and reddit are making fun of "they'll soon introduce a subscription for brakes" or "VW thinks we're all millionaires."



Plans for the future? Volkswagen isn't stopping with the ID.3. They promise to roll out the subscription to other models, including, perhaps, the ID.4 or even petrol cars. "This is an evolution of traditional options," the company says, referring to the old days when powerful engines were paid for on top. But then you paid once and for all, not monthly. And then corporations wonder why sales are falling, but the user will simply buy something simpler, without these digital shackles. In the end, a real man needs power under the pedal, not in an app for an extra fee.