Volkswagen introduces monthly subscription for full electric motor power

Owners of an electric car Volkswagen ID.3 in the UK can now get the most out of their cars… but only at an additional cost.

On the official British website, Volkswagen ID.3 Pro and Pro S models are now listed with a power of 201 hp (150 kW). However, technically, the engine of these versions is capable of producing 228 hp (170 kW). To «unlock» these additional 27 hp, owners are offered two options:

• Subscription — from £16.50 per month (about $22)
• One-time payment — £649 (approximately $880)

Along with the additional 27 hp of power, the engine torque will also increase significantly — from 265 N-m to 310 N-m. What does this mean in practice? For the Pro and Pro S versions, the base power of 201 hp allows for acceleration to 100 km/h in around 7.5-7.9 seconds. With a subscription, the acceleration time can be reduced by 0.3-0.5 seconds due to additional power and torque. In urban and suburban environments, this results in a noticeably more responsive accelerator pedal, especially when overtaking or exiting an intersection.

At the same time, Volkswagen emphasizes that the additional “horses” do not reduce the range. After all, it is a matter of adjusting the powertrain software, not changing the hardware. It is worth recalling that the Volkswagen ID.3 has a very long-lasting battery The Pro S version retained 91% of its capacity after 160 thousand kilometers in real conditions.

And one more interesting thing. Since the car is registered with 228 hp from the factory, owners do not need to notify the insurance company of changes — regardless of whether they have subscribed or not.

An important caveat: a one-time unlock is tied to the car, not the owner. That is, if you sell the car, the next owner will receive the extended capacity at no extra cost. And when you buy a new electric car, you will again have to pay extra money for the full engine power.

To put this into perspective, the monthly fee for the extra kilowatts is three times the price of a standard Netflix subscription (with ads) in the UK. And it remains to be seen which of these subscriptions will bring more and longer satisfaction — -0.5 seconds during acceleration or several tens of hours of video viewing.

This is not the first time that a manufacturer has limited the potential of a sold car’s equipment and offered to open it for a fee. In 2022 BMW tried to introduce a $18 per month subscription for using heated seats and other features that were technically already installed in the car. The customer reaction was sharply negative, and the company quickly abandoned this model. In 2024, the company wanted to introduce an additional fee for adaptive suspension.

Polestar, for example, has similar offers, which also offers paid software upgrades to increase power.

Currently, the additional performance fee applies only to the British market. There are no plans to introduce such a practice in the US or other European countries, presumably because of fears of repeating the negative experience of BMW.

Source: electrek, autoexpress