this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2025
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Most car for the last decade or two already come with a lot of options built-in that are simply disabled by software in the factory. It's cheaper to just build in a standard set of electronics and disable what's not bought by the customer because many brands still like to milk the customer with options. Subscriptions just take the buying of options to renting.
VW here also also has the "lifetime subscription" for this. That makes it basically the same as you buying the option and they switch in it on in the factory. It's just plain in your face that it's behind a paywall while the old checking options didn't feel as much as a paywall.
Anyway, I went with Hyundai. They didn't do options and subscriptions. You only get to choose the model and looks, that's it.
Well hyundai has a predefined trim system, they cut cost of manufacturing by only having predefined trim levels that you can't customize.
They might still do this cutting of horsepower but they do it because of batteries.
e.g. the 39kwh and the 64 kwh Kona has the same motor but on the 39kwh it's limited as the battery pack can't deliver enough juice.
Fuck “lifetime subscriptions”. They’re taking a page from Tesla and I’m sure they’ll require any new owner to pay them separately should you sell the vehicle.
Simply avoid VW and any future brand that pulls this shit.
Tesla does not and has never had "lifetime subscriptions". They have a single connectivity subscription (they still have basic connectivity for free for all cars that allows you to monitor and control the vehicle,as well as navigation). Any other upgrades are behind 1-time payments (or your choice of either).
Wouldn't it be even cheaper to design the next version modularly and interchangeable?
Ah, wait, that would make it too easy to repair for unlicensed users.
The extra labor to manage more components and check/verify each single vehicle fits it's unique specs would eat up the saving really fast. It's so much easier to do a single HW config and manage it through SW, and electronic components are generally cheap.
That would require more logistics to get different modules, checks to make sure the right ones are installed and labor to install them. Somewhere there is a cutoff point where modularity is cheaper.