Volkswagen will lease self-driving features

In the future, Volkswagen customers will be able to activate and pay for in-vehicle functions on demand, including Level 4 autonomous driving.
According to the Top Gear Volkswagen has a different idea about autonomous vehicle technology, that in the future users can turn on or off the car’s self-driving features when needed. The accompanying condition is that the customer must register a subscription.

That means if the autonomous feature is needed, car owners can activate it and pay for it. Currently, any car connected to the internet can receive software updates, similar to electronic devices like smartphones. Even with just one software upgrade, the range of an electric vehicle can be dramatically increased. Existing platforms make Volkswagen’s head of sales and marketing Klaus Zellmer think the group can exploit that way of working to give customers more freedom in the use of their vehicles. Instead of letting customers choose the equipment, Volkswagen will assemble the car with everything but disable them with software. When there is a need to use it, customers spend more money to rent that feature under a monthly or yearly subscription package. To visualize, Zellmer used the example of Level 4 autonomous mode expected on VW vehicles in the future. As soon as this almost the highest self-driving feature is officially adopted and widely used, many people probably still do not believe it and do not use it. So they won’t have to spend money. As for car owners in need, Zellmer shared that they may need to pay about 7 euros, about $ 8.5, per hour to be able to use the level 4 autonomous feature.