5 ms·

Mercedes-Benz new subscription model: increase performance for only $1,200/year

30 points by RadixDLT 4y ago

blmayer 4y ago
DLC for autos. This reminds me of Destiny.
globalise83 4y ago
"we're going to get the customer to pay to transport this heavier-than-necessary motor around until they get drunk one evening and can no longer resist the urge to get full performance out of it and splurge $1,200 in our online shop. Any objections?"
rambambram 4y ago
I like these kind of stupid business models, because they make it easier for me to spot the people I don't want to be around.
perryizgr8 4y ago
If you consider that the average Mercedes performance car owner uses his car for five years, why wouldn't they just offer a higher power version of the car for $6000 more? I'd imagine 6k extra on top of ~80k you're spending on a new car is more palatable than a $1200 yearly subscription.
- mrfox321 4y ago
  Since manufacturing two things is more expensive than manufacturing one thing?
  - drdo 4y ago
    That's fine. Just ship the more expensive version with the same hardware but with the extra power firmware.
    - robnado 4y ago
      But then, how will they get revenue from the second-hand market.
haunter 4y ago
Why not link to the original? https://shop.mbusa.com/en-us/connect/pdp/Acceleration-Increase/709 https://shop.mbusa.com/en-us/connect/pdp/Acceleration-Increa...
chrisgd 4y ago
What are the odds some of the really smart programmers on this site can figure out how to mod/jailbreak this themselves?
- notjulianjaynes 4y ago
  I wonder if it's something preprogrammed into the car that simply needs to be unlocked, or if something like an OTA firmware update for the motor controller gets pushed out. Hopefully it's something you have to go to a dealer in person to have done.. Being able to change the parameters of a cars performance via a radio signal sounds extremely troubling to me. Will a malicious actor with an SDR figure out how to push an update that, say, disables the brakes above 60mph? Also plausible, how long until government demands this sort of control to enforce safer traffic? Example: you drive past, say, a high tech school zone sign that temporarily, automatically limits your speed to a max speed of 20mph. Is this plausible?
rawling 4y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33736262 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33736262 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33722092 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33722092 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33719717 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33719717 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33698565 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33698565 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33692713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33692713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33692285 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33692285

30 points by RadixDLT 4y ago

DLC for autos. This reminds me of Destiny.

"we're going to get the customer to pay to transport this heavier-than-necessary motor around until they get drunk one evening and can no longer resist the urge to get full performance out of it and splurge $1,200 in our online shop. Any objections?"

rambambram 4y ago

I like these kind of stupid business models, because they make it easier for me to spot the people I don't want to be around.

perryizgr8 4y ago

If you consider that the average Mercedes performance car owner uses his car for five years, why wouldn't they just offer a higher power version of the car for $6000 more? I'd imagine 6k extra on top of ~80k you're spending on a new car is more palatable than a $1200 yearly subscription.

mrfox321 4y ago
Since manufacturing two things is more expensive than manufacturing one thing?
- drdo 4y ago
  That's fine. Just ship the more expensive version with the same hardware but with the extra power firmware.
  - robnado 4y ago
    But then, how will they get revenue from the second-hand market.

haunter 4y ago

Why not link to the original? https://shop.mbusa.com/en-us/connect/pdp/Acceleration-Increase/709 https://shop.mbusa.com/en-us/connect/pdp/Acceleration-Increa...

chrisgd 4y ago

What are the odds some of the really smart programmers on this site can figure out how to mod/jailbreak this themselves?

notjulianjaynes 4y ago
I wonder if it's something preprogrammed into the car that simply needs to be unlocked, or if something like an OTA firmware update for the motor controller gets pushed out. Hopefully it's something you have to go to a dealer in person to have done.. Being able to change the parameters of a cars performance via a radio signal sounds extremely troubling to me. Will a malicious actor with an SDR figure out how to push an update that, say, disables the brakes above 60mph? Also plausible, how long until government demands this sort of control to enforce safer traffic? Example: you drive past, say, a high tech school zone sign that temporarily, automatically limits your speed to a max speed of 20mph. Is this plausible?

rawling 4y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33736262 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33736262 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33722092 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33722092 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33719717 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33719717 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33698565 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33698565 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33692713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33692713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33692285 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33692285