There are 4 owner-reported fuel system complaints for the 2023 Volkswagen ID.4in NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
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.
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.
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
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.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026