Ill take “reasons why I still drive a b5.5 passat” for $500, Alex

And they wonder why nobody’s buying their cars…

Most car for the last decade or two already come with a lot of options built-in that are simply disabled by software in the factory. It's cheaper to just build in a standard set of electronics and disable what's not bought by the customer because many brands still like to milk the customer with options. Subscriptions just take the buying of options to renting.

VW here also also has the "lifetime subscription" for this. That makes it basically the same as you buying the option and they switch in it on in the factory. It's just plain in your face that it's behind a paywall while the old checking options didn't feel as much as a paywall.

Anyway, I went with Hyundai. They didn't do options and subscriptions. You only get to choose the model and looks, that's it.

Our family was looking for a newer car. We found a listing for a VW, went to the dealership with intent to buy and was told that the car (which was standing RIGHT there) was available for sale in 3 months. Now we enjoy our new Toyota.

Is $879 for an extra 20 horsepower even worth it?

No. Switching from 140 to 160 hp isn't something you'd really even notice on everyday commuting. More is more of course, but unless your driving style is very aggressive that doesn't really make any difference on the driving experience. What it might do is improve your range slightly, but that depends heavily on multiple different things and if your driving style and conditions on most common routes aren't suitable it might even reduce the range you'll get out of the thing.

Wouldn't it be even cheaper to design the next version modularly and interchangeable?

Ah, wait, that would make it too easy to repair for unlicensed users.

Volkswagen is desperate and absolutely fucked. If this is their answer for every one of their shitty little cars being over taken by Koreans they are just fucked.

Fair if you care about it. No other upgrades will get you that much.

That would require more logistics to get different modules, checks to make sure the right ones are installed and labor to install them. Somewhere there is a cutoff point where modularity is cheaper.

option to pay $22.50 per month or $879 one time to gain 20 horsepower.

At least you can buy it outright, so not the worst scheme of this sort, but still a scheme.

Auto Express UK reported on the pricing but could not verify whether the subscription follows the vehicle or the user profile.

This is bad journalism, per EU regulation, if the option is bought it follows the car, if it's a subscription, I doubt they can legally demand either the original and definitely not another owner to keep it. A subscription can be cancelled, otherwise it's an indefinite contract, which a new owner never agreed to.

....

Oh sorry I forgot for a second that UK is no longer in EU, so UK customers can be fucked in new creative ways, which probably also explains why this experiment is in UK. Ah well they chose to fuck themselves over I guess.

Strange comment, since VW group sell by far the most EV cars in EU.
Yet you get a dozen upvotes.
You guys are weird.

Not really IMO, but I would personally never buy it, since it's an artificial limitation only meant to extort buyers for more money, for something that cost them nothing, and I would never reward artificial limitations and such shenanigans.

I'd probably look for some third party hack to unlock it for free instead, or probably buy another brand of car.

We imported all the consumer protection laws, so as long as this isn't a recent change it will be the same in the UK.

Woo! 2002 passat owner checking in here!

AFAIK a lot of the EU citizen and consumer protections have been dismantled in UK after UK left EU.
Even democratic rights to protest have been limited, and privacy rights against government surveillance that is illegal in EU.
So I seriously doubt they haven't cut user protections too, the conservative government was clearly a government that worked against the general population to benefit the rich and those in power. This was absolutely one of the main points for the extreme right politicians and media (mostly conservatives) to want out of EU.

VW makes better EV's than Hyundai/KIA IMO.
Also VW group has bigger sales.

Hyundai and KIA have some good options too, but there is no way to call VW shitty by comparison, when they far outsell the competition in EU.

In Denmark where I live, Korean EV's have dropped out of top 10, while VW group has 7 models in top 10!

You dodged a bullet.

VW has gone down the drain.

Our cars aren't selling... Hmm.. Should we make them last longer? No. Should we make the interior out of anything except hard plastic? No. Should we make our cars easier to repair and not have even the most basic shit require specialized tools? No. I got it! Subscriptions for basic shit that gauges the few customers still buying our shit!