2021 Volkswagen ID.4 Fuel System Problems

Mileage when the problem started

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

On March 26, 2024 the VW Id.4 caught fire while being driven on freeway. The driver was able to pull over and escape from the vehicle as it burned but sustained burns to his left arm, hand and face. The vehicle was engulfed in flames and destroyed. An inspection of the vehicle and battery modules in October of 2024 by VW experts and experts for the driver determined that the fire started in one of the battery modules and was not due to external causes or road hazards. The remains of the vehicle and battery modules have been preserved.

The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact stated that the "Service Now" warning light was illuminated. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but provided no additional assistance. The contact stated that the issue was related to a Service action program regarding the hybrid battery pack. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000.

While driving the vehicle, error messages were displayed in the digital cluster indicating, among others, "electrical system not working, Safely stop vehicle", "I2V battery error", "Issue with all-wheel drive system", "Front/Travel Assist not working". In less than 10 seconds, the vehicle came to an unintended complete stop right as I was completing a left turn (to get the vehicle to the curb of the street) to park the car. A car was behind me and had to maneuver around me to proceed on its way. My daughter (in a child car seat in the back) and I were the only occupants and were at risk of a car collision because the car stopped moving in the middle of the road. I have now taken the car to a dealership for inspection. At the dealership, one of the representatives commented that this is not the first time they have seen this issue with this vehicle. …

Yesterday, April 26th, 2023 the above vehicle was involved in a serious accident, possibly related to the safety recall for the high voltage cell module. My wife was driving the vehicle on her way to work, as she did for the past 2 years. Sometimes she gets coffee for herself and a coworker, so that day she turned into a parking lot of the last MacDonalds before her job. She pulled up to the drive thru lane as she did many times before. She was not distracted by the phone, and her radio was turned off. There was nobody else in her vehicle, and her thought was on the coffee order. As she was pulling up to the 2 vehicles in front of her, something horrible happened in the next 3 or 4 seconds. …

I got out of my car on Saturday, April 20th at a shopping mall 50 miles from my house. I parked and my screen told me that I had an over the air software update that I needed to install. I began installation of the update and parked and left my vehicle. I returned approximately 2 hours later and the car would not shift into drive. I had a yellow error message that said my cornering light was not functioning properly, but nothing referencing why my car wouldn't go into drive. I sat and tried to troubleshoot for another hour before calling roadside assistance. I was away from home, so they explained that they would only be able to tow it to a nearby dealership. It was after hours, nothing was open and it wouldn't be open until the following Monday. …

The vehicle developed a charging/electrical/high-voltage battery problem. Level 3 charging stopped first, then charging later stopped on all levels. The vehicle was taken to an authorized Volkswagen dealer on 08/06/2026. The dealer referenced high-voltage battery/module and charging-system issues, including fault/code information involving P0BBD00 / J840 / 008C and campaign/action history involving 93P7 / 97ZZ. The dealer quoted a very expensive repair involving a high-voltage battery/module condition and charging-system components. The unresolved safety concern is that the dealer/manufacturer have not provided a clear written answer on whether the vehicle can be safely charged, operated, towed, released, or repaired elsewhere while the high-voltage battery/module condition remains unresolved. …

The car displays warnings such as "travel assist unavailable," "electrical system not working properly," "drive system error" and "please service vehicle. The warnings appear upon startup after entering the car, or when attempting to shift from park to drive, park to reverse, or reverse to drive. The warnings leave the car in "park" and it cannot be moved. When they appear, the driver must exit the car and leave it stationary in the parking lot or busy street where the errors occurred for up to 30 minutes before the car's electrical and drive systems will reset. After reset, the car may or may not have recovered and become drivable, requiring at times multiple attempts before car can be moved. Having to leave the car in a parking lot is a nuisance. Having to leave the car in the middle of a street is hazardous.

The vehicle went into complete shutdown, it was unable to be placed into Drive or Reverse and vehicle was completely immobile. Various warnings appeared on the instrument cluster. After letting the vehicle sit it was returned to the dealer, where they experienced the same issues, but eventually replaced various electrical components and re-booted/re-programmed the systems. Approximately 11 days after receiving the vehicle back from repair the same thing occurred, additionally the automatic hold feature, to prevent rolling in neutral, failed and the car rolled backwards in my driveway about 4 feet before I was able to apply the footbrake. Several warning signals said the vehicle should not be driven, the vehicle is now back at the dealer again.

Feb 07,2023 Manufacturer Recall Number97ZZ NHTSA Recall Number23V040 Recall StatusRecall Incomplete, remedy not yet available This report came out over a month ago. I have to drive my car with the knowledge that it's basically unsafe. Volkswagen has been completely silent about this problem for far too long. I understand that Volkswagen is working on the problem but they do not communicate with owners other than make promises they don't keep. Now they are telling us that we will hear by March 31. Does the NHTSA have the authority to demand that Volkswagen take action? I'm afraid to take my car out of the garage when almost every day, I read that someone else has problems with their car. This isn't right.

In April, 2023 I took my 2021 VW ID4 in for a recall service. At that time they discovered issues with the car's high voltage battery. This has led to a continual vehicle warning that my electrical system is not functioning properly and needs service. I was also told that the estimated range of the car is undependable, making trips of any distance impossible. I have had two service repairs scheduled, both canceled. The dealer now tells me that whatever is necessary for the repair has been back ordered to December. This means that my car will not have been fully functioning for eight months.VW continues to build ID4s but cannot keep those already sold in good repair.

Fuel System complaints in other ID.4 years