An essential software glitch in the battery management control circuit of Volkswagen’s all-electric ID.4 crossover that could abruptly stall the vehicle has forced the company to issue recalls for almost 21,000 units. According to VW, the management software can reset itself under some conditions, and that may deactivate the pulse inverter during the reset. As part of the chain reaction, that would halt power to the car’s electric motor.
According to documentation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, late last month VW initiated a recall for 20,904 ID.4s built between May 26, 2020, and January 20, 2022. The problems surfaced in July 2021. By that September VW had concluded there was no unreasonable risk to drivers “since steering and braking functions are not affected,” but continued studying the situation. By January 2022, VW’s supplier told it that the pulse inverter software had problems as well, problems that could lead to stalling.
Owners will be pinged through an alert in the ID.4’s instrument module by the end of March and instructed to visit a VW dealership for installation of a software fix for the high-voltage battery management control unit and the pulse inverter control unit. Newer vehicles are unaffected, as they use a newer software version, VW says.
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