Comment by delfinom

This is actually not specific to the EVs but something all German car brands started doing. They made their alternators/chargers of the 12V battery overtly complicated and you have to use a dongle to tell the car you replaced the battery and with what kind of battery.

My friend once replaced her battery, exact same one in a BMW X3. The car immediately went into a limp mode and would refuse to go faster than 5mph until we connected a dongle and told it that the battery was replaced with the exact model that was already in there.

There's an argument they did it for "battery lifespan optimization" which there is a semblance of truth, because there are different kinds of lead acids. The reality is they found a new way to force the majority of people into dealerships.