Mercedes-Benz wants you to pay annual fees to keep your ride fast

Mercedes-Benz is offering a $1,200 subscription option to all EQE and EQS owners in the United States that will reduce their launch time by up to one second.

Both the EQE sedan and the EQE SUV come equipped with an electric powertrain rated at 292 PS (288 hp / 215 kW). Subscribing to the software update will dial up the output to 349 PS (344 hp / 257 kW). The sedan will be able to sprint from zero to 60 miles per hour (96.6 km/h) in 5.1 seconds instead of 6.0. The SUV will manage the same in 5.2 seconds instead of 6.2.

As for the luxury-laden EQS model, it will gain 88 U.S. horsepower for a total of 449 PS (443 hp / 330 kW). With a liftback body, it will launch in 4.5 seconds instead of 5.3, while the SUV version will take 4.9 seconds instead of 5.8 to get to highway speed.

The manufacturer claims that both power and torque curves receive numerous optimizations in this update, partly thanks to enhanced electric motor management.