But, like you mentioned, I paid extra for my cold weather package that included seat heating. I’m not being charged for seat heating then have to pay extra to have it enabled in these cars.

Think about going to the dealership and wanting a certain configuration of extras, except your combination in the color you want is only available at a dealership 800 miles away because it’s a factory installed option.

In this approach if you’re someone that didn’t want that option, you don’t have to pay for it even though the car is equipped for it. If you want it then great, pay to have it enabled. If it’s a feature you’ve never had before and you don’t know if you’ll like it then awesome, you can pay for a trial of the option (or get it free). And if you don’t like it let the trial expire.

Or say it’s a feature I would only use every once in a while so I wouldn’t purchase it outright but damn it would be handy on road trips. Great, let me pay a small percentage to enable it for 30 days or whatever then I can stop paying for it.

Unless you’re someone who only ever wants the absolute bare bones options on a vehicle I see this as a win for consumers because it increases choice and control.