VW is charging a subscription to give this EV extra power

Once again, it’s time to talk about car manufacturers charging a subscription for upgrades.

A few years ago, it was BMW who ruffled feathers by charging a fee for using the heated seats already fitted to its cars. Now it’s Volkswagen's turn, as a spotlight has been shone on the range of upgrades sold through its Volkswagen Connect Shop.

The headline-grabber is that drivers of the ID.3 have the option of paying a monthly fee to add more power and torque to their car. Pay £16.50 a month, and the motor’s output is increased from 150 kW to 170 kW, and the torque figure is also improved, from 265 Nm to 310 Nm. Or, Volkswagen will let ID.3 owners pay a one-off fee of £649 for a lifetime subscription, which stays with the car even when it’s sold on to someone else.

Although this has only surfaced in the news this week, thanks to Auto Express, VW’s Connect Shop has been around for a while. A year ago, in August 2024, the UK ID.3 owners’ forum discussed the performance upgrade, and cited a Danish owner who had upgraded their car from the menu system of the dashboard display.

Another driver opted for a one-month free trial and said they “really like the extra zip the car has,” adding: “I’m thinking of buying a year’s subscription at the end of the trial. Permanent purchase is not worth it unless I keep the car for four or five years at least.”

Other upgrades available to purchase from VW’s in-car shop include the AirConsole cloud gaming service, ‘Light Assist’ to improve the functionality of the headlight main beam, dynamic ambient lighting and, yes, heated seats.

This isn’t new – and it actually makes some sense

The current VW Golf also lets drivers pay a subscription to unlock and use the heated seats already fitted to the car when it was built. A YouTube video by The VW Mechanic from December 2024 shows how heated seats cost £8.20 a month, £81.90 a year, or £329 for the lifetime of the car.

In 2023, BMW dropped its own plans to charge a subscription for heated seats already fitted to its cars.

There is some logic to paying a rolling subscription for comforts like heated seats, since in countries like the UK you’ll (ideally) only use them for a few months each year.

But the move feels unfair, since manufacturers have already installed the seats (or the smarter headlights, and in VW’s case, a motor capable of delivering more power), so the customer feels like they’re being asked to pay twice.

If no one paid the subscription, it wouldn’t take long for manufacturers to stop fitting the unused parts in the factory. But as long as enough drivers pay, either outright up-front, or monthly via a subscription later, then the optional extra remains profitable. And, crucially, the car is quicker, simpler (and potentially cheaper) to make, since every example has the same hardware installed.

Ultimately, if it’s cheaper to speed up the production line by installing the kit as standard on every car, and enough people opt in to a subscription to cover the cost of the extra hardware, then this practice is likely to continue.