Renew Your Subscription: Rear-Wheel Drive to Be Locked Behind an Annual Paywall for the Mercedes-Benz EQS

by Gabrielle DeSantis

Lately, many vehicle brands have opted to lock car features behind paywalls. The most popular among these are subscription services, which charge monthly or annual fees to upgrade certain features or allow you to use them at all. Recently, Mercedes-Benz decided to put a paywall on the Mercedes-Benz EQS, which will lock the rear-wheel drive function depending on what country you’re in. Read on to find out more about the new Mercedes-Benz EQS and what the subscription service will entail.

Upcoming Mercedes-Benz EQS model

The 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC

The upcoming 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS is the first fully electric vehicle in the Mercedes-EQ line. According to Mercedes-Benz, it has a 107.8 kWh battery capacity, which will charge from 10% to 100% in a little over 11 hours using standard AC charging. Fast chargers will cut this time drastically, charging the same amount in about 31 minutes. Depending on the exact model, it will reach 329 or 516 hp, with the EQS 580 4Matic being at the top of the horsepower range.

Additionally, the Mercedes-Benz EQS comes with a variety of different features. One of these is its keyless handles and ignition, which sense the key in your possession rather than having to insert and turn it. The EQS also has some notable driver assistance features, such as lane-keeping assistance, which will remind drivers to stay in their lane after accidental lane drifting.

A rear-wheel drive subscription

One of the model’s features, however, will be locked behind a paywall. Mercedes-Benz EQS models allow drivers to turn the rear wheels up to 10 degrees, but some nations will be forced to pay for it. According to The Drive, this is particularly the case in Germany, which will cost around $576 each year or $1733 for three years. This will change the rear wheel turning amount from 4.5 degrees to the full 10. In the U.S., all cars will come with the full 10-degree capability. Meanwhile, in other countries, the rear wheels will not rotate at all without paying first.

Aside from monetary compensation, there is no practical reason the company has offered as to why it’s doing this. Since each car can reach 10 degrees without any upgrades, locking certain nations’ drivers behind a paywall is something many consider unnecessary and greedy.

Subscription services on other cars

The Mercedes Benz EQS’s subscription is far from the first time certain vehicle features have been locked behind a paywall. Tesla, for example, is locking its Full Self-Driving capability behind a subscription. Despite the name, it requires full driver supervision and has features such as automatic steering. Not only does this feature require a per-month payment of $199, but it also requires upgrading the Tesla model to the latest computer hardware. This adds up to be quite expensive for a convenience feature.

According to Autoblog, BMW has also had a hand in subscription services. In 2019, the company said it would charge $80 a year for consumers to use the Apple CarPlay feature. Eventually, BMW went back on this, however, since there was a heavy amount of backlash. The next year, they brought the subscription model back again, this time locking even more features, such as automatic high beams and heated seats.

Cadillac also has a subscription service that costs users $25 a month to use their Super Cruise driver assistance. It has a three-year free trial, and some features will remain after the subscription expires, but some features plus any new upgrades will remain locked behind the paywall.

These are just a few of the many examples of driver subscription services, which are growing increasingly common. Adding the new Mercedes Benz EQS to the mix signals that these are unfortunately unlikely to disappear anytime soon.

RELATED: Rivian to Offer Electric Truck and SUV Subscription

The post Renew Your Subscription: Rear-Wheel Drive to Be Locked Behind an Annual Paywall for the Mercedes-Benz EQS appeared first on MotorBiscuit.

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Watch a $200,000 Lamborghini Gallardo Supercar Drive Through Flood Waters

by Gabrielle DeSantis

There are a lot of ways people can use and misuse a supercar. For the most part, any car can get swept away in floodwaters. Floodwaters can be fast and unpredictable. However, this Lamborghini Gallardo proves that sometimes supercars can do everything regular vehicles can do.

Turning a $200,000 Lamborghini Gallardo supercar into a boat

A Lamborghini Gallardo going through a flooded intersection | Inside Edition

In the video posted on the Inside Edition Youtube page, you can see various cars approach a flooded intersection. While a larger GMC SUV takes off without issue, a nearby PT Cruiser seemed more apprehensive about crossing the road. However, the white Lamborghini Gallardo takes on the water like no big deal.

The California intersection wasn’t too deep, but part of the issue of floodwater is that it can be unpredictable. There could have been a pothole or hole in the road that might have appeared due to the flood. This white Lamborghini Gallardo didn’t seem to mind, though. It plowed through the intersection like a Cadillac Escalade on 24-inch wheels. To be fair, the supercar is all-wheel drive which would have been helpful in this situation.

How can a Lamborghini Gallardo go through water like that?

One of the main reasons this Lamborghini Gallardo made it through the intersection is engine placement. The Gallardo is a rear-mid engine supercar, meaning that the engine is in the back of the vehicle. In this case, there is a chance the air intake didn’t take in any water due to the short amount of time in the intersection. There are usually air intakes in the back and on the side. In the video, neither of those locations seem to take on too much water. There’s also a chance the Lamborghini Gallardo sputtered to a stop as soon as the video stopped rolling.

There might have been water inside the vehicle, but perhaps not the engine itself. Either way, it is not recommended to take your Gallardo into a flooded intersection. In fact, it isn’t recommended to take any vehicle into a flooded intersection. If nothing else, the headlights probably got water inside the housing. The Lamborghini Gallardo passenger might have gotten a bit soggy, too.

What is hydrolock when it pertains to a vehicle?

According to CarBrain, a motor can experience hydrolock in a few situations. The full name is called hydrostatic lock, and it occurs when water gets into the engine. In this case, it appears the Lamborghini Gallardo did not get water in the engine and did not experience hydrolock.

“Normally, the piston compresses an air/fuel vapor mixture in the cylinder. Fluid simply doesn’t compress like a gas does. When the piston reaches the fluid, it comes to an abrupt halt. And, when one piston stops, they all do. Your engine shuts down, and you’re left wading through water to get to safety.”

CarBrain

This can happen to cars and even boats that have gotten water in the engine one way or another. It can also occur if the vehicle isn’t running at the time, such as during a flood or extreme weather event. In addition, it can cause the engine and other pieces on the car to corrode. In this case, water might not have reached the air intake, and the Lamborghini Gallardo escaped unscathed. What is the lesson here? Don’t drive through floodwaters.

RELATED: Who Gets the Supercars to Pebble Beach Concours D’elegance?

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You Can Call a Driverless Ride From Google Maps

by Gabrielle DeSantis

If you’ve ever wanted to call a car to pick you up – and just a car – you can now call a driverless ride from Google Maps. It’s like something from science fiction, something that would have been unimaginable, or at least unrealistic a few years ago. No longer do people have to wait for a human to show up and hope that they take the quickest route to your destination. Now an autonomous vehicle can take you where you want to go. The caveat? You have to live in the Phoenix, Arizona area. 

The Google Maps logo | Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Google is working with Waymo 

Google is working with Waymo to bring autonomous vehicles to a city near you – well, to Phoenix. Together, the tech giant and the autonomous vehicle company announced that they’re making it possible for people to call driverless cars. It sounds kind of strange, right? A driverless car will just show up wherever you are and take you where you need to go. Waymo is already in operation in the Phoenix area, though the ability to call one from Google has only been in practice since June of 2021. 

What is Waymo?

Waymo’s autonomous driving system began as a Google project in 2009. Waymo calls itself an autonomous driving company. Unlike Tesla, whose cars and SUVs come equipped with Tesla Autopilot, Waymo doesn’t make its own cars. Instead, it collaborates with car companies to put its driving system into vehicles. 

Currently variations of Waymo semi-autonomous and autonomous driving systems are in Toyota Priuses, Lexus SUVs, Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans, and Jaguar I-PACEs. In Phoenix, Waymo’s driverless system is in Chrysler Pacifica taxis. 

Waymo says that by developing autonomous driving systems, they’ll be helping to save lives. Driverless cars don’t make the same mistakes that humans do. However, the technology and capabilities to put mass amounts of driverless cars on the roads is still years away.

So then is calling a driverless ride safe?

According to ArsTechnica, Waymo has over 20 million testing miles, and their safety record is pretty good. They say “These crashes have been overwhelmingly minor with no fatalities and few if any serious injuries. Waymo says that a large majority of those crashes have been the fault of the other driver. So it’s very possible that Waymo’s self-driving software is significantly safer than a human driver.”

However, that’s not to say that it’s perfect, and without a human behind the wheel, there’s always a risk that something could go wrong and there would be no one immediately available to remedy it. Still, as testing continues and the service expands, we may get a better idea of the safety and scalability of driverless cars. 

So you can call a driverless ride from Google Maps, but will you? While some people may be hesitant to get in a car without a driver, others may look forward to trying it out or may even prefer the sense of personal safety that can come from not having to trust another person with your life. If these driverless taxis are a hit, perhaps the service will expand, and people in other cities will be able to try it out.

RELATED: Consumer Reports Hates Tesla’s New FSD

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Automakers Are Finding New Ways to Fight the Chip Shortage- And We’re Paying for It

by Gabrielle DeSantis

New cars have a problem. By now, I’m sure you’re aware that we simply cannot manufacture enough semiconductors to combat the chip shortage. Nowhere has the impact of this been felt more than in the automotive industry. Sure, you may not be able to get that new PS5 either, but the auto industry is inarguably the hardest hit by the shortage. Moreover, automakers are getting creative to meet demand and keep consumers in dealerships.

VW wants to direct purchase chips to fight back

Small things can cause big problems | Jens Schlueter via Getty Images

Per Reuters, Volkswagen is looking at directly purchasing semiconductor supplies direct from vendors. It’s a big and very competitive move. Why buy semiconductors when you can make your own? Frankly, it’s a brilliant business play and a great way around the chip shortage. Knowing VW, they’ll be selling semiconductors to the rest of the industry by the end of the month.

To be fair, VW was among the first to warn about the chip shortage way back in December, which admittedly feels like it was about 30 years ago. According to a nameless executive at VW that spoke with Reuters, the brand is already in talks to make this happen. As the industry begins to rely more heavily on computers in new cars, it’s set to signal a shift in the industry. But how are we paying for it?

Dealer markups are a symptom of the chip shortage

A man in a clean room manufactures semiconductors
Semiconductor manufacturing in China | STR/AFP via Getty Images

Frankly, it’s not manufacturers making us pay for it, it’s dealers. It’s not like VW or anyone else is hatching some Dr. Evil-level scheme to mark up semiconductors and make the consumer pay for it. At least, not right now. Dealers however want their taste. Your local dealer can’t keep cars on the showroom floor right now. Demand is absolutely rabid for new cars. And the sharks smell blood in the water.

Dealers know the average shopper wants to walk into a dealer looking for a new car and leave with one. Dealers also know that some people are willing to pay a little extra to get their hands on that hot new Bronco or Telluride. So, that leads to the dealer gradually charging more for the car. Often you’ll see things like a $4,000 “market adjustment” charge on the window sticker. That’s the markup. And Ford isn’t telling dealers to do that. They’re doing it because of the chip shortage.

When will it stop?

Biden holds a semiconductor during a news conference
The president seems to be a fan of visual aids | Doug Mills via Getty Images

So, when can we expect to see this chip shortage nonsense stop? According to Bosch, a major semiconductor supplier, it could be well into 2022. The issue is, the supply chain to make these little monsters isn’t caught up yet. For now, it’s best for consumers to sit tight and weather the storm. Or sell your car and laugh all the way to the bank, for a little while longer at least.

RELATED: Ford Bronco Hard Top Replacements Are Going to Cause More Delays

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