Mercedes prepares the subscription for speed. You’ll pay $1200/year for 20-24% more performance

Just as European officials discuss capping top speeds for new cars, Mercedes is preparing “Acceleration Increase”, an add-on option that will be unlockable on a subscription basis.

Adding to the growing list of features you get when you buy your dream car, but can’t access unless you pay an extra fee, Mercedes is also putting the car’s acceleration on the “optional extras” list.

So if your next Mercedes comes with 0-100Km/h acceleration within a certain limit, find that you’ll be able to shave at least 0.8-0.9 seconds off without even a visit to the tuning shop. Instead, the “investment” will be paid for in the form of an annual subscription, in return for which you’ll be able to access the level of performance your car comes with straight from the factory, plus some added benefits, such as the guarantee that online tuning won’t ruin your car’s engine or transmission prematurely. At least, not before it’s out of warranty.

Specifically, Mercedes has chosen to include the next level of performance in the base trim, amortizing the extra cost right into the final price of the car. Thus, those who do not wish to access the next level of performance can enjoy the car purchased as before, but at an insubstantially higher price, benefiting instead from the slightly better reliability of components designed to operate at even more aggressive performance parameters. Instead, those who opt for the extended functionality unlock get exactly what they want, plus the Mercedes warranty, useful in the event that something does break.

Without taking too much of a risk with the current offering of combustion-powered cars, Mercedes has chosen to offer this “upgrade” path only for cars in the new Mercedes-EQ EQE and Mercedes-EQ EQS range with electric drive.