Polestar 2 gets 68bhp update for a fee  

But without membership

The time when we will pay for software improvements in cars that already have the hardware for them, seems to have already arrived. Following Mercedes , Volvo is offering an upgrade that will upgrade the Polestar 2 with an additional 68 horsepower for North American customers. However, unlike Mercedes, Volvo does not ask for a subscription and the upgrade package can be purchased “out of the box” for $1,195.

With the update, the Polestar 2 will reach 476 hp, reducing the 0-100 acceleration from 4.5 seconds to 4.2. Polestar notes that the driver will notice the extra horsepower mainly on the move, reducing the time it takes to overtake another vehicle. The update can be purchased from the Polestar web shop and will be applied with an OTA upgrade without the need for the car to be in a dealership.

The fact that Polestar is charging for something that the vehicle could technically do before, the company justifies that it was not available when it was built. In practice the user is paying Polestar for the time spent on improving the vehicle and not for its components.