A heated seat that was bolted into a car at the factory should, by most owners’ instincts, already belong to whoever bought the car. Automakers increasingly disagree. Over the past several years, manufacturers have begun locking hardware that is already installed, from seat warmers to extra horsepower, behind recurring monthly charges delivered through the same over-the-air software updates that once seemed like a pure convenience. The backlash to some of the earliest attempts has been loud enough to reshape how car companies talk about the strategy in public, even as other subscription features quietly remain in place across the industry.
How A Feature Already Installed Becomes A Monthly Charge
The mechanism behind this shift is what automakers often call “functions on demand.” A vehicle leaves the factory with every physical component already wired in, whether that is a seat-heating element, a faster electric motor controller or a hands-free driving camera array, and a software flag simply determines whether that hardware is switched on. Because no technician needs to visit and no new part needs to be installed, activating or deactivating a feature can happen entirely through a software update, the same kind of subscription business model long used by streaming services and mobile apps, just applied to parts a buyer can already see and touch inside their own car. Automakers have argued the approach lets them build one standardized hardware configuration across an entire model line rather than manufacturing separate trims, while still creating a source of revenue that continues arriving long after the original sale closes.
BMW’s Heated Seat Backlash Became A Cautionary Tale
BMW became the industry’s clearest example of how badly this approach can land with buyers. Starting in select markets including South Korea and the United Kingdom, the company offered heated seats and a heated steering wheel as a roughly $18-per-month subscription, or a one-time purchase of several hundred dollars, even though the heating hardware was already factory-installed in the large majority of those vehicles. Criticism poured in from owners and reviewers who argued that charging monthly for a feature already sitting under the upholstery amounted to renting back something already paid for. By September 2023, BMW dropped the heated-seat subscription entirely, with a company board member telling reporters the backlash was larger than expected and that the company would instead reserve subscription pricing for genuine software-driven services, such as parking assistance and digital-assistant features, according to reporting from Forbes. The episode is now frequently cited across the industry as the clearest cautionary example of charging separately for hardware a buyer has already paid for once.
Mercedes-Benz Still Sells Extra Horsepower By The Month
Not every automaker retreated. Mercedes-Benz continues to offer an “Acceleration Increase” upgrade for its EQE and EQS electric models, delivered entirely over the air with no dealership visit required. The package adds 60 horsepower to the EQE 350 4Matic and 80 horsepower to the EQS 450 4Matic, shaving roughly a second off each model’s zero-to-60-mph time, according to Mercedes-Benz USA’s own announcement. Buyers can choose a lifetime unlock costing roughly $1,950 for the EQE or $2,950 for the EQS, or pay monthly or annual subscription rates instead, meaning the underlying electric motor and battery already support the extra output long before any money changes hands for it. The arrangement draws a sharper line than BMW’s heated seats, since acceleration is explicitly framed as a performance upgrade rather than a basic comfort feature, though the underlying logic, charging separately to unlock capability already sitting inside the car, is identical.
Driver-Assistance And Remote-Start Features Follow The Same Model
Performance and comfort features are not the only categories drifting toward recurring payments. Hands-free highway driving systems, offered under names like Super Cruise and BlueCruise, are frequently sold as ongoing subscriptions layered on top of the vehicle’s purchase price, since the camera and radar hardware needed to run them ships standard on many trims regardless of whether a buyer activates the software. Tesla has similarly sold its advanced driver-assistance package as an ongoing subscription alongside an outright purchase option, with pricing that has shifted repeatedly as the underlying software has been updated. Remote start and remote-lock features on some mainstream brands follow a related pattern, working freely during an initial trial period tied to the car’s built-in cellular connection before requiring a paid plan to keep functioning once that trial expires. In each case, the physical parts needed to deliver the feature are already present in the vehicle; only a recurring payment separates a driver from using them.
Regulators Are Starting To Scrutinize Subscription Traps
The broader subscription economy, including car features, has drawn increasing attention from consumer-protection regulators. The Federal Trade Commission finalized an updated negative option rule in 2024 aimed at requiring companies to make canceling a recurring charge at least as easy as signing up for one, part of a broader push against subscription and auto-renewal practices that trap customers in payments they no longer want. The rule has faced legal challenges since its adoption and its enforcement status has shifted as a result, but the underlying regulatory pressure on companies that quietly convert one-time purchases into recurring bills, including automakers experimenting with software-gated hardware, has not gone away, and consumer advocates continue pointing to car subscriptions as a test case for how far the practice can reasonably extend.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors.
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