Mercedes-Benz Selling Subscription Upgrades for Cars

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Mercedes-Benz will release a new feature for its electric vehicles (EV). The ‘Acceleration Increase’ feature is a $1,200 yearly subscription.

With the new subscription, the Mercedes-EQ EQE and Mercedes-EQ EQS can go from 0 to 96 km/h (60 mph) about one second faster. Mercedes-Benz says that the subscription changes the electric motor to make more power.

The company says that driving a Mercedes-EQ is “a new experience every day” and that the “‘Acceleration Increase’ boosts performance.”

After you sign up for the yearly subscription, the car’s motor power increases by 20 to 24%.

The subscription will be available in the US soon, but a Mercedes-Benz spokesperson did not respond to questions about its release date.

Mercedes-Benz is not the first car company to offer subscriptions for features in their vehicles. The car company Tesla offers a variety of subscriptions for its cars. 

Additionally, BMW now offers heated seats in its cars for about $15 per month. You can also get monthly subscriptions for heated steering wheels and automatic high beams.

VOCABULARY

  • Release – make available to everyone; launch; put on the market
  • Feature – a special or important point; attribute; quality; component; part;
  • Vehicle – a machine, usually with wheels and an engine, used for transporting people or goods; car or truck
  • Acceleration – the act or process of moving faster; the action of increasing speed; a vehicle’s ability to gain speed
  • Yearly – every year
  • Subscription – an amount of money that you pay regularly to receive a product or service (Netflix subscription; Amazon Prime subscription; newspaper subscription)
  • Experience – something that happens to you or something you do that affects how you feel; an emotional situation
  • Boost – to help increase; to improve; to push up
  • Performance – the capabilities of a machine, product, or vehicle
  • Sign up – to join; to apply for; agree to do something
  • Available – able to be used: ready for use; accessible
  • Spokesperson – a person who speaks professionally for a company
  • Variety – different kinds; different types, assortment
  • Additionally – also; moreover; in addition; furthermore
  • Steering wheel – the wheel which the driver holds when he or she is driving to control and turn the vehicle
  • High beam – car headlights that are on as brightly as possible; brights; the most powerful lights on the front of a car

QUIZ

1. 
Mercedes-Benz is not the first car company to offer subscriptions for features

2. 
What will Mercedes-Benz's new subscription do?

Original story from FOX Business below: