Comment on VW introduces monthly subscription to increase car power
WoodScientist@lemmy.world 1 day agoI hate this kind of artificial limitations but in this case I’m totally fine.
This is an environmental disaster. We’re building cars with equipment that will never be used. It costs more materials, time, and energy to manufacture a 300 HP engine than a 200 HP engine. VW might make all models with a 300 HP engine and then require a subscription to increase the power from 200 to 300 HP. Yet, what if you don’t want to use that extra power? You’re still stuck with the weight of the heavier engine! You’re hauling around a uselessly heavy engine, and you’ll be doing so from the moment you buy the car until the end of its life. Even if you don’t want to pay for the subscription-only equipment, you’re still paying for the higher gas costs to haul all this redundant crap around with you. And the environment takes an unnecessary hit for us to manufacture equipment that will never be used. This is an environmental disaster.
This is an environmental disaster.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_ID.3
The lowest MPGe I see for it is 129, the highest 141.
The Ford F-150 is the most-popular vehicle in the US.
www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/…/2025_Ford_F150.shtml
It has a combined MPG rating of between 16 and 21.
It also means they can build fewer types of engine for the models they make, requiring less tooling, less spare parts, etc. I’m not sure if that is enough to balance the environmental cost of making slightly bigger motors, but a number of companies have come to the conclusion that it’s cheaper than having more engine options.
Okay, but hear me out: the notion that a business model is “cheaper” doesn’t matter if it’s also criminal because it violates their customers’ property rights.
Oh, this sounds like a ridiculously easy case to win. So where is that case where someone had a car that was being sold in an illegal manner and they won? Just one, anywhere in the world. And not the one about the VW emissions scandal. Most diesel vehicle drivers don’t really care about emissions, and no one was paying less for a non-EPA qualifying option.
Wispy2891@lemmy.world 1 day ago
The car was introduced 5 years ago, they launched this unlock right now where only the 0.1% of users will actually care and the kind that needs external validation from higher numbers is already with a newer vehicle.
IMHO with all the telemetry gathered they noticed that the motor can sustain higher than spec bursts of power for a short time and tried to cash in that