Mercedes EQE (Mercedes)
EQE SUV.
Will earn a second at 0-100, as long as you keep paying (photo: manufacturer's website)
Want a faster car?
Until today you had to change your car, or go to the neighborhood improvement workshop.
Mercedes is following in the footsteps of Tesla, and will allow its customers to download more horsepower to the engine.
The German company will soon offer the owners of its electric models an "acceleration increase" service, which includes installing new software for the electric motor, which improves its performance without changing anything physical about it.
In fact - releasing more potential power that the engine was able to provide in advance, for an annual subscription fee, in addition to the not cheap purchase price.
For example, in the case of the EQE350 saloon car, the power will increase from 292 to 354 hp, which will shorten the acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.1 seconds, nine tenths faster than the original performance.
The same improvement will be offered to the leisure version, the EQE SUV, only that there the acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h will be shortened by a full second, to 6.2 seconds.
The service will cost Mercedes owners in the US $1,200 per year, and those who choose not to renew it will lose the extra performance. Machelmobil, the Mercedes importer, stated that the manufacturer has not yet released the option to the Israeli market, which may happen later.
In Israel the state wants a tax on such improvements
As mentioned, Mercedes is not the first manufacturer to start selling upgrades to vehicle owners through software, mainly of capabilities that were already embedded in the vehicle on the production line, but remained blocked until additional payment was received.
BMW and Audi, like Tesla, make it possible to add heated seats to certain vehicles, which means getting the possibility to activate the capability that was already installed in the vehicle, but was not available to its owner.
Tesla is also offering acceleration upgrades for $2,000 on Model 3 Long Range models, and a heated steering wheel and seats for $230.
The American streetcar manufacturer also does not yet offer the service to vehicle owners in Israel, and when several dozen of them bypassed the block and purchased the capabilities by transferring the vehicle's registration abroad on the company's website, it blocked their access to the improved capabilities and returned the money they paid.
Tesla Israel is the first to start fighting with the tax authority regarding the taxation of the upgrades.
The tax authority sees them as spare parts, and requests that they be taxed accordingly, while Tesla claims that it is software, and that it should be taxed accordingly.
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