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Thaiday leaves Capewell's kid in tears

Thaiday leaves Capewell's kid in tears

Thaiday leaves Capewell's kid in tears
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Forget Netflix, Volkswagen locks horsepower behind paid subscription
Forget Netflix, Volkswagen locks horsepower behind paid subscription

Auto Express

timea few seconds ago

  • Auto Express

Forget Netflix, Volkswagen locks horsepower behind paid subscription

If you thought paying out for Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ was bad, Volkswagen is now forcing owners of the ID.3 to pay extra if they wish their car to deliver the full performance it's capable of. Yes, you read that correctly: Entry-level Volkswagen ID.3 Pure models are listed as producing 170kW (168bhp) on the VW configurator but take a look at the small print and you'll see that the car now comes electronically limited to just 148bhp, unless the owner pays a subscription fee. This subscription currently stands at £16.50 per month. That's almost three times the price of a 'Standard with Ads' Netflix subscription – following a one-month free trial - or a total of £165 per year. Owners can also choose to select a lifetime subscription for the grand total of £649, but Auto Express is awaiting confirmation from VW as to whether this is tied to the user profile or the car. Advertisement - Article continues below If you're thinking about buying an ID.3, you can spec a new one via the Auto Express' Buy A Car service or get a pre-owned model at prices from £9,000 with no subscriptions to pay. Volkswagen says that while selecting the performance upgrade increases net power from 148bhp to 168bhp and the maximum torque from 265Nm to 310Nm, it does not affect range. As the car is registered at 168bhp from the factory, owners won't need to inform their insurance company, either way. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen what would happen if an owner were to hack their car – also known as 'jailbreaking' – in order to manually switch on the extra power for free. This potentially could invalidate the warranty or even lead to legal action from VW, but once again Auto Express is waiting to hear back from the firm on this. To be clear, Volkswagen is not the only car company asking customers to pay in order to get the maximum capability out of their cars; BMW received a lot of criticism a few years ago when it offered up a subscription service to activate features like heated seats. Polestar owners can purchase a similar performance pack to that which Volkswagen now offers, although this is more of a software 'upgrade' to boost power, rather than unlocking power that was already there. Buy a car with Auto Express. Our nationwide dealer network has some fantastic cars on offer right now with new, used and leasing deals to choose from...

Israel announces West Bank settlement that rights groups say could imperil Palestinian state
Israel announces West Bank settlement that rights groups say could imperil Palestinian state

The Independent

timea few seconds ago

  • The Independent

Israel announces West Bank settlement that rights groups say could imperil Palestinian state

Israel's far-right finance minister announced a contentious new settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Thursday which Palestinians and rights groups worry will scuttle plans for a future Palestinian state by effectively cutting the West Bank into two separate parts. The announcement comes as many countries said they would recognize a Palestinian state in September. 'This reality finally buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognize and no one to recognize,' said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. 'Anyone in the world who tries today to recognize a Palestinian state – will receive an answer from us on the ground,' he said.

Trump's new commercial spaceflight order could benefit Musk's SpaceX
Trump's new commercial spaceflight order could benefit Musk's SpaceX

The Independent

timea few seconds ago

  • The Independent

Trump's new commercial spaceflight order could benefit Musk's SpaceX

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to streamline federal oversight of commercial rocket launches, a move that could benefit Elon Musk 's SpaceX and other private space ventures. The White House confirmed the order mandates, among other things, the U.S. transportation secretary to either eliminate or expedite environmental reviews for launch licenses administered by the Federal Aviation Administration. The declaration also calls on the secretary to do away with "outdated, redundant or overly restrictive rules for launch and reentry vehicles." "Inefficient permitting processes discourage investment and innovation, limiting the ability of U.S. companies to lead in global space markets," the executive order states. While Musk and Trump had a high-profile falling out months ago, the billionaire entrepreneur's SpaceX rocket and satellite venture potentially stands to be the single biggest immediate beneficiary of Trump's order on Wednesday. SpaceX, though not mentioned by name in Trump's order, easily leads all U.S. space industry entities, including Nasa, in the sheer number of launches it routinely conducts for its own satellite network, the U.S. space agency, the Pentagon, and other enterprises. Jeff Bezos ' private rocket company, Blue Origin, and its space tourism business could also gain from a more relaxed regulatory regime. Musk has repeatedly complained that environmental impact studies, post-flight mishap investigations and licensing reviews required by the FAA have needlessly slowed testing of SpaceX's Starship rocket, under development at the company's South Texas launch facility. Starship is the centerpiece of Musk's long-term SpaceX business model, as well as a core component of Nasa's ambitions for returning astronauts to the moon's surface, establishing a permanent human lunar presence and ultimately sending crewed missions to Mars. Musk has viewed FAA oversight as a hindrance to his company's engineering culture, considered more risk-tolerant than many of the aerospace industry's more established players. SpaceX's flight-test strategy is known for pushing spacecraft prototypes to the point of failure, then fine-tuning improvements through frequent repetition. This has appeared to run afoul at times with the FAA's mission of safeguarding the public and the environment as it exercises its regulatory jurisdiction over commercial spaceflight. Earlier this year, the FAA grounded Starship test flights for nearly two months after back-to-back post-launch explosions rained debris over Caribbean islands and forced dozens of airliners to change course. The FAA ended up expanding the aircraft hazard zone along Starship's launch trajectories before licensing future flights.

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