An electric vehicle future could be glorious. The next generation of vehicles could be cheaper per mile to own, last longer, be more fun to drive, and be easier to modify. But an electric vehicle future could also be a dystopian nightmare in which you never truly own your car because you’re forced to constantly dish out subscription fees to activate the hardware you already own. VW just took a major step toward this dystopian future.

There are multiple EVs on the market that require you to pay extra to unlock the car’s full potential. It’s not shocking the bean counters have been trying to push the industry toward subscription fees for a long time. BMW drew outrage when it began charging a subscription fee to activate its heated seats, heated steering wheels, and even Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, software that cellphone companies give to automakers for free.

Tesla introduced an “acceleration boost” upgrade on vehicles such as the Model Y, which costs $2,000 up front. Dodge, pressured by its dealerships, announced a similar racket for tiered performance levels you can purchase from dealerships after you take delivery of your car.

Until the VW announcement, Mercedes-Benz was the slimiest of the subscription-seeking automakers. It also drew criticism for locking its “acceleration increase” feature behind a paywall. This scheme promises quicker acceleration to 60 mph if EV owners pay up. Mercedes did the same thing with rear-wheel steering, a hardware feature designed to make low-speed maneuvers such as parking easier.

VW announces subscription fee to unlock full horsepower

With its latest announcement, Volkswagen takes the cake for greediest automaker. The world’s second-largest car company just published the amount of extra horsepower it’s willing to unlock for a subscription fee in the U.K. If you pay an extra $22 a month, the VW ID.3 EV will bump you from 201 horsepower to 228. The power is available with a single fee of $880. Again, that’s for full access to hardware you already own.

Honestly, 27 horsepower for $22 may not be a big seller. That’s more than a Netflix subscription. That’s like premium ChatGPT money for a 10% horsepower bump. And in an EV, you already get maximum power at zero rpm, so they feel much quicker off the line than regular ICE vehicles. But if it does sell well, it’s only a matter of time before VW pulls the same move in the U.S.

If we want to avoid this dystopian EV future in which greedy automakers can keep milking drivers for more money, we may need to vote with our wallets and not buy from the car companies that get greedy.