At that point, this seems like simple hedging "Sure, you can go faster, might burn out the motors, but we'll replace them under warranty".
Why do they need a fucking green man (circuit chip) in a car I own that obeys only their remote services to unlock this feature?
Basically - Either I own the fucking thing, in which case I have all the keys, or I'm just licensing access. Let's not fuck around with this awful gray area where companies try to weasel out of consumer protections.
Tesla has been doing something similar for a while on the extended range model 3 where you can pay a one time fee to get a boost in performance.
Interestingly, there is a Canadian company that has reversed engineered what happen when it is unlocked and is selling a device that you plug on the car CAN bus and you get the same performance boost. They obviously sell this for less that what Tesla charges and as far as I understand, the only risk is that you might void your warranty if Tesla "catches" you doing it.
So I kind of agree that it seems similar to getting a factory approved chip tuned. When you chiptune your ICE car, you will often pay several hundred euros for a shop with the right hardware to modify your car (and loose your warranty). In this case, if the setting change is increasing failure rate but your warranty is not affected maybe it's not such a bad deal.
this is an attack on the used car market
It's quite intentional - it's bad behavior - I'd like it see it made fucking illegal as soon as possible.
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We're in this weird period where manufacturers have realized that software controls on embedded circuits allow them to retain far more control over devices than they should ever be given the right to have.
The last stop on this train is clearly digital slavery - you own nothing, everything around you is a subscription or licensed access. The moment you stop paying - the device degrades, not because it has to, but because it's the stick they use to beat more money out of you.
I want legislation passed fucking yesterday that states that I must be provided ALL of the damn keys to a device when I buy it. I don't give a fuck whether that key is physical or digital. I get them all, or the manufacturer gets fucked out of existence.
The above assumes - probably incorrectly - that Mercedes will repair the car as part of this, and thus the increased cost mostly represents their costs in more repairs needed. If you have to pay for repairs, then it should be a one time fee.
Generally, modding anything beyond the ECM / TCM / PCM will be visible to the service center and claims will be denied.
If you stick to software alone, you're generally not looking at more than maybe 15-50 hp difference in most cars, depending on your starting point (you're getting a small percentage increase, so more powerful cars will see more of an increase).
Most ECM / PCMs do not have adequate tamper protection to detect being modded and then flashed back to stock, which is a common practice in the auto enthusiast world, and leads to people who technically shouldn't be getting repairs under warranty to get them.
Newer ones are getting better at detecting this.
They can only deny a warranty if the modification caused the damage. However, they can claim it did and deny you even if it's not true.
Leaving you basically only two options payup or pay lawyers and court fees ect.. to sue them.
I've been in the room when making this exact kind of product proposal (not MB). The pushback from drivetrain and electrical on warranty, repair, battery life etc was intense and directly related to future satisfaction. Sure, you can push the envelope on the spec, but it does tend to come at a cost.
Say they give this option for free... And it reduces the battery life/capacity by 10% over the course of a year. Pretty sure people would be clutching their handbags in horror.
You buy a car with a spec. Aftermarket mods are definately a thing to increase that spec, and they've been around for a while, both for ev and ice. They've always been available at a cost. This time it's from the MFG and we all lose our minds.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-finalizes-intel-on-d...
I prefer the one-time purchase to subscription models for big-ticket purchases though. I don't like the mental overhead involved with addons.