Mercedes Introduces Annual Subscription To Boost Vehicle Efficiency

• 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

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