2023 Volkswagen ID.4 Fuel system Problems

I am driving home from work and I’m right around the corner from my house. As soon as I try to make a turn, the car begins beeping and the faults “Electrical system malfunction” and “12V power supply” show up. My car does not accelerate, I lose power steering, and I can no longer move while I’m still in the middle of the road with cars around me. Thankfully, there was a slight downhill that allowed me to coast somewhat off the road, but I had to push this 4600+ lbs car (by myself) further so it wasn’t sticking out. I had to get 4 other people to help push the car to my house across a residential collector road which took ~20 mins just to go a couple hundred feet. This is the THIRD time of this occurring, twice I’ve been to the dealership, and twice they told me they couldn’t replicate the issue. The other times “thankfully” occurred when the car was already parked, but one of the instances required a tow; this was not even a week after buying the car. The second time occurred not even 5 hours after getting my car back from the dealership service center, requiring me to ditch the car in the parking lot (dealership was closed). I’ve had the car for a little under a month. This is incredibly unsafe. I work in downtown and go on many major roads/interstates during my commute. If this would’ve happened on the freeway or a busier road, a serious accident and/or injury could’ve occurred.

NHTSA ID

11752552

Incident

Jul 23, 2026

Car has been in and out of various VW dealers since purchase at the end of August 2023. Car was purchased new. Immediately began receiving emergency “stop driving vehicle” messages on driver display. VW on call service advised if the car drives, I can operate it and no further action is necessary. Various Electical errors including charge 12V battery, infotainment screen going black or resetting while driving, no display while in reverse, car losing power on highway, car alarm going off while driving, if hazard lights are used, they do not shut off unless the car is off and driver is out of the car for at least ten minutes, interior lights flash on and off (this is a safety issue as is if incredibly difficult to see while driving at night, car has been in shop three times for this, no repairs, the car battery drains incredibly quickly; usually get about 2kWh in town driving, charging errors; charger not recognized, or car displays it is charging, but when complete, it didn’t charge, windows don’t respond to the controls, door handles don’t always work to open the doors; often have to access the car from passenger side (these have been replaced and still don’t work), emergency braking system doesn’t function, car ghost breaks (no objects ahead, clean sensors, driving and brakes slam on), multiple leaks in vehicle including headlights, rear driver tail light, and the light on top of the back hatch, car loses connection to emergency system, infotainment screen doesn’t respond to finger touches and must be reset, to initiate OTA updates, fuse needs to be pulled. I barely drive the car, and it’s my only vehicle. It’s not safe (lighting issues ongoing, alarms, safety features don’t work, can’t get into the car) and not reliable for travel as charging is hit or miss (at commercial charging stations and home charging station), and the battery life is extremely short, even in perfect conditions using cruise control in eco mode, the car only travels about 130 miles.

NHTSA ID

11731530

Incident

Apr 15, 2026

I was charging at Electrify America charging station for approximately 20 minutes when suddenly I felt the ID.4 shaking and then seconds later I was surrounded by smoke coming from outside and beneath the ID.4. The ID.4 was not turned on and was completely stationary. I unplugged the vehicle. During this time I made a best effort to not inhale but it happened so quickly that it was unavoidable. The smoke smelled really toxic and tasted like chemicals. I felt nauseous and woozy afterwards. I called 911 to report the smoke coming out of my ID.4. Call was made at 6pm, seconds after the smoke started pouring out. The vehicle was releasing extreme amounts of cloudy thick white smoke and it completely engulfed the ID.4 itself. There was also an orange/pink-like liquid pouring out of the left side of the vehicle from the bottom. The fire department came and from what they told me, they cut a "cut loop" to prevent the battery from continuing to get more power. They told me the cells in the battery were continuing to release energy and heat to the point that it was melting the carpets in the ID.4's floor. They hosed it down for over 2 hours until the battery was cooled off enough and safe to be towed to a safe area. There had been no warning leading to this. The car did not alarm of any issues.

NHTSA ID

11730304

Incident

Apr 9, 2026

I am advised by VW to not charge this vehicle using the L3 super chargers along with not to charge it "inside" a garage. However, there is no way to charge the vehicle then without spending thousands to have an electrician move the plug outside. So I am forced to have this vehicle not usable and VW offers zero fix. I have written them a formal demand letter over 3 weeks ago requesting a fix or buy back and they ignore it. They have sold a vehicle which is clearly unsafe, however offer no fix

NHTSA ID

11721251

Incident

Feb 5, 2026

VW has informed me that my 2023 ID4 has a faulty battery that is at risk of catching fire. The VW corporate representative told me not to charge at fast charging stations and to keep it clear from my property because of the risk of it catching fire. VW has not issued the recall yet as they dont have a solution, but warned me about the dangers. They said they don't expect to issue the recall until mid march. I also talked to a VW dealer and they said when the recall comes out that the wait time to fix will be significant. In the meantime, I feel very unsafe driving , charging, parking this car.

NHTSA ID

11719253

Incident

Feb 2, 2026

Date/Time of Incident: 1/29/36 at approximately 5:44 PM Location: Small school parking lot Vehicle: 2023 Volkswagen ID.4 On 1/29/36 at approximately 5:44 PM, I was pulling out of a parking space at low speed in a small school parking lot in my 2023 Volkswagen ID.4. As I began to move, the vehicle suddenly accelerated on its own, the steering would not turn left, and the car did not respond to braking, moving at an abnormal rate of speed over a very short distance. Prior to this, there had been no warning messages or alerts, except a routine notification to service the car in 1,000 miles. The collision involved three vehicles: my VW, the main car I hit, and a rental car. My car spun and veered sideways, the parked SUV on the right was pushed sideways, forming a rough “H” pattern, and the rental car went up onto a rail ramp where children walk. My grandson observed the car’s tires spinning at impact, and he hit the seat behind me. Without the parked cars, the vehicle would have continued directly toward the school building, creating a very serious risk of fatal injuries to parents, staff, and children. Injuries: Myself — pain and emotional trauma; grandson — soft cast on foot/leg, crutches, pain; his mother — pain. The vehicle is awaiting Volkswagen guidance for inspection. Likely involved systems include Speed Control, Fuel/Propulsion System, and Electrical, but the exact cause is UNKNOWN. The incident has been reported to State Farm (claim #0596B819B), Volkswagen (Case #07294060), and police.

NHTSA ID

11715038

Incident

Jan 29, 2026

At a stop, the car began rapid acceleration by itself, the auto emergency brake began but it bypassed it and began accelerating again causing me to rear end someone at a red light

NHTSA ID

11703344

Incident

Oct 21, 2025

When driving at low speed in a parking log, vehicle began to accelerate suddenly. Driver was able to brake to avoid collision. Seemed to be due toaccidental touch of capacitive touch RES button on left side of steering wheel, which resumed previous ACC speed. ACC had not been use for several days prior, but system remembered previous high speed and tried to resume.

NHTSA ID

11671183

Incident

Jul 2, 2025

Automatic parking assist and reverse braking systems exhibit severe, recurring malfunctions causing collisions and injuries. On May 24, 2025, at approx. 4:10 PM, auto-park uncommanded the vehicle to strike a mailbox in a familiar spot. Dealer dismissed incident without diagnostics. Beyond this collision, the vehicle exhibits frequent, violent, unintended braking during reverse. This occurs when: Turning body to look back: System abruptly locks brakes, causing whiplash-like neck pain to me. Dealer stated this was "normal" for "driver seating" despite explanation. Encountering minor obstacles: System misidentifies leaves/garbage bins as threats, engaging full, hard braking. This causes extreme distress and has violently thrown passengers forward. My teenager son sustained a visible bruise for one week after hitting the console during one such incident March 2024 These system malfunctions create high risk of injury to occupants and pedestrians. The unpredictable braking events are a fundamental flaw. These issues were reported to the dealer within weeks of purchase and to VW Group of America Customer Care (800-822-8987) after the mailbox incident. They remain unresolved."

NHTSA ID

11670764

Incident

May 24, 2025

Our VW ID.4 was leased in December 2023. The vehicle unexpectedly went into "turtle"mode or limp mode, which according to VW happens when the battery is very low. Notably, we had 80% of battery charge at the time (which is the optimum charge). Unexpectedly, the yellow turtle display came on and, worse, the vehicle lost power while driving. The speed was greatly reduced, the power was also greatly reduced. The car went from regenerative breaking to loss of regenerative breaking, while the center drive display still showed "B" for regenerative breaking. It was also almost not possible to drive up a small hill. The vehicle displayed 2 error messages (we have photos, also of the 80% battery charge, which we attach): 1. "Vehicle performance is limited. See owner's manual." 2. "Electrical system not working correctly. Safely stop the vehicle." Comment: In our opinion, the vehicle is not safe to drive. The unexpected reduction in speed and loss of power, paired with the loss of regenerative breaking, creates very dangerous conditions. It may not be possible to "Safely stop the vehicle". In addition, we have also lost the center display and dashboard display twice now, which we believe is mentioned in NHTSA Recall Number24V344. VW sent us a letter in July informing us that our vehicle is subject to this recall. Yes, we have experienced the issue, twice. It is even more scary, if this happens when the vehicle loses power unexpectedly on an 80% charge. It is unacceptable that VW states in its recall letter "A recall repair is not available yet". VW is exposing drivers and passengers to significant risk. We are concerned that this vehicle is not safe to drive. We have brought it to the dealer on Monday 8-26-2024 and are awaiting diagnostics and repair.

NHTSA ID

11611161

Incident

Aug 25, 2024

My car popped up a messaging stating “Electrical system not working correctly. Please service vehicle.” I called in for service and the dealer told me that the message was not urgent as it was a yellow message and that they would not be able to get me in until Tuesday. I continued to drive the car and the message would come and go for two days. On the last day, I got the message and heard an electrical whirring noise when pressing the accelerator. Then the sound and message went away. Later that evening when charging, the fans were running extremely loud so I got the car out of my garage to avoid it catching fire. I called VW who said that I could drive it to the dealer. I left my house and the car popped up the message and then said it was disabling functions. It never said to pull over. Then a turtle popped up and my speed was dropped to 45 mph. I was on a highway at the time and turned around to head back home. Then it dropped my speed to 25. Right after doing that it came to a stop in the middle of the road. It never said to pull over or avoid driving it either but I was stranded in the road. A few minutes later all the messages disappeared and it started driving normally. I made it home and called for a tow truck.

NHTSA ID

11605706

Incident

Jul 26, 2024

While driving my vehicle it shifts into “park”, not sure if it is an electrical issue, transmission, or breaking issue. I have taken to the dealership for repairs they worked on the driver seat sensors, was at the dealership for 10 days. Three days after repairs the same issue occurred, took back to the dealership and they informed me that they could not recreate the issue(possible electrical issue), the service advisor suggested that I should not move around in the seat while driving to correct the issue. Again about three days later the same issue occurred again, this time in heavy traffic and it was difficult to get into “drive”, I have returned the car back to the dealership. At this time, I asked the service manager to take a ride with me, he seemed very surprised when the issue occurred with him in the drivers seat, he also had a hard time getting the car into drive. This seems like a big safety concern for a vehicle to rear end my car.

NHTSA ID

11589546

Incident

May 15, 2024

I brought my 2023 Volkswagen id.4 Pro S EV to the Volkswagen dealer where the vehicle was purchased new earlier this year. This service visit was for the routine 10,000 mile inspection. Upon leaving the appointment, I drove out of the exit driveway of the dealership and made a left turn across a 5 lane road. Shortly after pulling out into the road (at approximately 15-20mph driving in "B" regenerative mode) all acceleration ability ceased despite my foot depressing the acceleration pedal. I had no ability to accelerate for about 3-4 seconds, leaving the car drifting in the middle of my turn. It wasn't until a few moments later after pumping the pedal that the acceleration ability returned. No warning lights or other changes were observed. I called the dealership about this, and after about a week they responded with "I spoke with the EV technician, he noted that because we plugged in the scanner to do the 10k service, it may have reset the basic settings of the E-motor. He noted it is normal for that to happen as when the engine dies and comes back on, it's the vehicle resetting the basic settings again. So it should not happen again." Meanwhile, I posted about my issue in an id.4 owners forum online and received 25 responses stating others had experienced the same concerning problem after a service visit. If VW dealers are releasing serviced vehicles to customers knowing what they are about to experience (momentary loss of acceleration upon first drive after visit), this represents a serious safety hazard. Fortunately, in my example, I was in a low-traffic scenario where the momentary loss, while panic inducing, did not cause me to impede traffic. However, if the road had been busier, my sudden and unexpected deceleration could have easily caused an accident. I feel very strongly that I am lucky nothing happened to me, and I also feel that the nonchalant responses from the dealer AND VW's corporate Instagram help chat were alarming and inappropriate.

NHTSA ID

11564483

Incident

Dec 29, 2023

30848 miles 1/5/24 – Drove to Cedar City UT for an appointment after picking the vehicle up. The elevation is 5846 feet and the weather was about 20f. While going uphill on the interstate I started to receive messages about the headlights not working. Electrical system not working correctly error message came back. The left headlight was going on and off on its own and an error "fault vehicle lighting". "Please check left front turn signal." "Error dynamic cornering light." Heat can be turned on hi but doesn't warm the vehicle up. Heated seats don't seem to be working even when on 3. There is also a burnt electrical smell entering the vehicle. Vehicle was parked outside Findlay VW St. George service and won’t be checked in until 1/8 as they are closed on the weekend.

NHTSA ID

11563986

Incident

Jan 5, 2024

30722 miles 12/12/23 – Vehicle continued to give the parking sensors error even after ensuring they were cleaned. The error will go away intermittently and then come back. Also got an error about parking assist not working. These errors never occurred before the 30000-mile service. Vehicle started giving electrical system errors and 12v battery errors again and had to be towed to Findlay Volkswagen St. George. The vehicle was in the shop 24 days, and I only received one email response from Pam Mahony-Coufal that the tech was still working with VW on the issue, and she would let me know when they were done. Texts and emails to check the status were met with no response. When I asked about a loaner, vehicle service manager Bryan said there were none available, and if there were one, it can’t be taken out of state. That poses a challenge for me since I live in Nevada and the dealership is in Utah. The dealership stated they found melted relays and replaced them. The vehicle was road tested 8 miles and returned to me 1/5/24.

NHTSA ID

11563985

Incident

Dec 12, 2023

29987 miles 11/3/2023 – I brought my vehicle to Findlay VW Henderson NV for the 30,000-mile service, the 12V electrical issue, and the door handle recall. Andrew Lammers, the service consultant told me they’d check everything out while my vehicle was in the shop and before releasing it back to me. I received a call about a week later that there were parts hold. On 11/17 I was advised my vehicle was ready. I was told the 12V battery, high voltage system, and electrical were tested and were okay. 4-wheel alignment, front assist, and lane assist systems were also recalibrated. I was assured I shouldn’t have any electrical issues any longer. I picked my vehicle up 11/18, one day after I was notified it was finished.

NHTSA ID

11563984

Incident

Nov 3, 2023

20122 miles 7/31/2023 – Infotainment screen would reboot at random. I was also receiving the 12V battery message still and the electrical system error Dropped vehicle off at AutoNation VW for the 20000-mile service. Mark Daddario said that sometimes it’s how the customer drives the EV’s that makes the errors come up but couldn’t tell me anyway I was driving it incorrectly. I left the vehicle asking them to perform the maintenance, perform the door handle recall, and replace the flat tire under my VW Care tire protection plan. I left the vehicle with them for several days while I was out of town. Upon picking up the vehicle Chris Guilkey told me everything was performed, but the system was down so they couldn’t give me any paperwork. He handed me the key and pointed to my vehicle which was returned to me with 17% charge. Shortly after leaving the dealership the vehicle performed a thud and shut down. After waiting a few minutes, it restarted again. I drove back to the dealership and Chris didn’t see any errors on the screen so told me everything should be fine.

NHTSA ID

11563983

Incident

Jul 31, 2023

9942 miles – Error: 12V power supply. Safely Park the vehicle! See owner’s manual. Pulled over a turned vehicle off. Took vehicle to AutoNation VW. By the time I arrived at the dealership the error was no longer on the screen. Jeffrey Lopez had said it would be checked as part of the 10,000-mile service (which according to Jeffrey included oil change.) I showed Jeff pictures of the error message. Tech performed the 10000-mile service, scanned the vehicle but claimed they were unable to duplicate concern. Nothing was documented regarding the electrical issue, only that I was there for a 10,0000 service synthetic oil. Inspection paperwork all claimed that the vehicle was in good condition. Upon leaving the dealership there was a thud and loss of power but then the power immediately came back.

NHTSA ID

11563982

Incident

Mar 10, 2023

The car came to a sudden unexpected stop from about 10 miles per hour. Everything shut down and the car came to a harsh stop, skipping/shuddering/stuttering. Happened so fast and unexpectedly that it startled me. Almost like the brakes were locking up and pulsing. But no brakes were ever applied by me. After coming to a complete stop car was completely dark. I tried to press the brake pedal to start it and nothing. Tried the brake pedal a second time and it turned on allowing me to drive away. Shortly after this event a thumping or banging noise started to occur when I accelerate or decelerate. Almost like something is loose below my feet. Weird thing is the sound is not constant. Comes and goes. Seems to be triggered after I make a right turn. Car has been at the dealer since November 28,2023 for this issue and is still at the dealer as of December 5, 2023 . Aside from this I recently got the car back from the dealer after being in for a week to replace the right rear door handle as it was faulty and opened on its own. Apparently not the known recall though.

NHTSA ID

11558556

Incident

Nov 23, 2023

This is a new vehicle used for less than 2 weeks. It has under 250 miles on it. The vehicle looses power and displays the following warning messages: “Error: Drive System. Please safely stop vehicle!” and “Electrical System not working correctly. Please service your vehicle” I was in a very unsafe situation without power but luckily was able to guide the car over to the side of the road with the momentum it had. The vehicle has been at the dealer since that event which has been 6 days now. Still no word on if / when it will be fixed.

NHTSA ID

11544645

Incident

Sep 8, 2023

The actuator on the charging port cover broke. I tired to get it fixed under warranty, but it has been two months and the part is still backordered from Germany. The charging port will not stay closed, so when it rains, water is getting into the charging connection and it is discolored, cannot tell if it is rust. I am concerned about plugging the high voltage plug in to the wet connector. I try to dry it, but it still seems wet.

NHTSA ID

11527657

Incident

Apr 29, 2023

The car shut down while driving. Many system warnings appeared sequentially stating that they were no longer functioning. The first to appear and remain as a warning light is the electrical system malfunction. It is currently orange, however, it turned red at one point. My car was unable to go into drive, nor reverse. I had my car serviced just over a month ago for a similar issue - power stopped being delivered to the wheels.

NHTSA ID

11511465

Incident

Mar 12, 2023

The car spontaneously came to a stop in the middle of the road and would not start again. The displayed showed plenty of battery charge/miles of range left, meaning the issue was not a dead battery. There were several error messages, notably one indicating that the car could not be put into drive because it was still connected to a charging cable. Being that the car was in the middle of the road, the car was not connected to a charger. I was unable to put the car into neutral in order to move it to the side of the road and out from the middle of traffic because the car kept indicating that it could not move with a charging cable still attached. The safety of myself and others was put at risk because my car spontaneously stopped in the middle of the road with no warning. My safety was further put at risk because the issue prevented me from putting the car into neutral in order to move it to safety.

NHTSA ID

11506505

Incident

Feb 9, 2023