VW under criticism for advertising coffee during drive
In addition to highlighting partners’ POIs on the map, there are also recommendations for charging stations and offers. If you agree to these recommendations, you may see advertisements during navigation.
Ideally, these are intended to be helpful to the user, for example, by recommending specific charging stations. However, the reality looks a little different, as users have noted. It should be noted, however, that it is possible to rescind the advert allowance and that permission needs to be given for VW’s ‘recommendations’.
Following a recommendation for a charging station at German grocery chain Kaufland, a Reddit post took off showing the technology in action: while an advert to charge makes good sense, users noted that a coffee advertisement from another grocery chain, Netto, was not so welcome. A particularly odd choice in the most expensive vehicle in the lineup.
The scandal is reminiscent of the outcry that BMW’s subscription model caused three years ago. At that time, the Bavarian carmaker had started offering seat heating for a monthly fee. The necessary technical hardware was already installed, but since the customer had not ticked the box when ordering, it was not activated as standard.
Volkswagen has also made moves in this direction in the past. In the UK, for example, drivers of the top-of-the-range ID.3 GTX version only have access to the full 170 kW of power if they either pay a monthly subscription fee or a one-off charge. If they don’t, the power is limited to 150 kW, as in the cheaper ID.3 Pro S.
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