2023-2026 Volkswagen ID.4 Recall: High Voltage Battery May Catch Fire

Volkswagen is recalling 22,524 ID.4 electric SUVs from the 2023 through 2026 model years because the high-voltage battery can catch fire, and it is asking owners to stop charging above 80% while a repair is developed. Volkswagen Group of America filed campaign 26V630 with NHTSA on September 30, 2026, a week after its Product Safety Committee decided on a recall with the cause still unidentified.

In some of these batteries, certain charging patterns combined with a state of charge above 80% can set off thermal propagation, where one overheating cell heats the cells beside it until the pack burns. Volkswagen estimates that 0.1% of the recalled vehicles have the defect and counts 22 U.S. claims between January 18, 2024 and August 7, 2026.

VINs have been searchable on NHTSA.gov since October 6, and interim owner letters are scheduled for November 27, 2026. Volkswagen's number for the recall is 93EX.

The Issue

The cells come from SK Battery America in Commerce, Georgia. The Part 573 report lists the involved component as the high-voltage battery under three part numbers, 11K.915.599.A, 11K.915.599.D and 11K.915.592.D, and those are the same three numbers Volkswagen listed for the cell modules in its two January 2026 ID.4 battery recalls.

Volkswagen's cause statement reads: "The root cause is unknown, however in certain high-voltage batteries within the affected vehicle population, certain charging profiles combined with a state of charge over 80% may trigger thermal propagation within the high-voltage battery." The report does not define a charging profile. On June 17, 2026, by the chronology, preliminary field data "indicated a potential influence related to specific isolation-resistance values and DC-charging ratios." Isolation resistance is the battery management system's measure of how well the high-voltage circuit is insulated from the vehicle body. I read the DC-charging ratio as the share of a car's charging done at DC fast chargers.

Both FMVSS fields on the report are blank, so 26V630 is filed as a safety defect, and the field for how the condition was corrected in production is empty.

Affected Models

Model	Model years	Production dates	U.S. units	Estimated with defect
Volkswagen ID.4	2023-2026	Jan 1, 2023 - Feb 1, 2025	22,524	0.1%

Volkswagen chose the VINs from assembly records, battery traceability data, supplier production records and the charging data it holds on each car. An ID.4 is outside the recall if its cells were made outside the suspect range, or if Volkswagen has recent and complete data showing the car has been charged below a threshold the report does not state. Two cars with cells from the same production run can therefore have different recall status, and the VIN lookup is the only way to tell them apart.

Volkswagen's October 6 dealer notice adds 5,633 ID.4s in Canada from the 2023 through 2025 model years. The 2021 and 2022 ID.4 are in neither count.

Chronology and Investigation

The thermal events behind this recall start on January 18, 2024, with an ID.4 charging at a Level 3 DC charger in Illinois. Volkswagen's earlier filings list four more: parked cars that were not charging in California on July 2 and October 6, 2024, a car being driven in Utah on December 6, 2024, and another at a DC charger in Colorado on August 15, 2025. In each case Volkswagen's inspectors placed the origin inside the high-voltage battery.

A supplier CT scan of modules from three of the first four found no cause in June 2025. A teardown in late September 2025 found shifted electrodes, and Volkswagen filed recall 25V836 on December 3, 2025, for 629 vehicles. On January 21, 2026 it filed two more: 26V028, covering 670 vehicles for a second electrode condition, and 26V030, covering 43,881 vehicles that lacked self-discharge detection software. The 26V030 report recorded thermal incidents in cars outside the cell ranges the supplier had identified.

On June 17, 2026, the Product Safety Committee ordered a field study of complete battery systems from vehicles that were not in any of those three campaigns. The results reached the group-level committee on September 21, which observed the link between charging profiles and a state of charge over 80% and asked the cell supplier about its production measures and a potential clean date. Two days later, on September 23, the committee decided on a voluntary recall.

Amendment 1, submitted October 1, assigned the recall number 93EX, moved dealer notification from November 27 to October 6, added the VIN-searchable date and lowered the claim count from 23 to 22. NHTSA acknowledged the campaign on October 6 and told Volkswagen to file another amended report with a remedy description and the dates for final owner notification.

Reported Incidents

Neither version of the report says what a claim covers, how many of the 22 involved a fire, or whether anyone was hurt. The claim window opens on January 18, 2024, the date of the Illinois event in the earlier recalls. NHTSA's record for 26V630 lists no associated investigation.

Remedy and Notification

Volkswagen wrote that "the root cause and repair solution still needs to be identified." As an interim measure, every affected owner will receive a warning sticker to place in the vehicle as a reminder not to charge above 80%. Depending on configuration and online connectivity, Volkswagen may also set some vehicles remotely to cap the battery at 80%.

Volkswagen told dealers on October 6 that the repair is not yet available. Until it is, they diagnose and repair customer concerns under existing procedures, and that work cannot be billed to the recall. New ID.4s in the recall cannot be delivered until they are fixed, which is federal law, and the notice says dealers should not deliver affected pre-owned ones either.

Volkswagen will not offer a reimbursement plan, on the grounds that the affected vehicles are still inside the New Vehicle Limited Warranty period.

What Owners Should Do

Run the VIN at NHTSA.gov or on Volkswagen's recall page now instead of waiting seven weeks for the letter. If the car is included, set the charge limit to 80% in the charging settings and leave it there. Volkswagen customer service is at 1-800-893-5298, and the recall number to quote is 93EX.

An ID.4 that already had the software update or module replacement under 26V030, Volkswagen's recall 93EA, still needs the lookup. The production window for 26V630 sits inside the one for 26V030, which ran from September 2, 2022 to April 10, 2025, and the new report does not say whether a vehicle can be in both.

Warning Signs

The warning field on this report names no symptom and repeats the 80% advice. Volkswagen's two electrode recalls said owners "may experience a loss of range and/or performance" if the condition was present. The self-discharge detection software installed under 26V030 would have flagged three of the earlier failures in advance, on Volkswagen's data, with the dates given as May 22, June 23 and October 31, 2025.

Bottom Line

The 80% limit is the only precaution Volkswagen asks of owners in this recall. In the two electrode recalls on the same cell modules it also told owners to park outside immediately after charging, not to leave the car charging indoors overnight and to avoid Level 3 DC chargers. Two of the five thermal events in its filings happened at DC fast chargers and two in parked cars that were not charging. An owner who can park outside and charge on Level 2 at home gives up little by doing both until the final remedy arrives.

Find your Volkswagen ID.4 recall information: https://www.vw.com/en/owners-and-services/about-my-vehicle/recalls.html

Fourth NHTSA campaign in ten months on ID.4 battery cells from SK Battery America in Commerce, Georgia. The earlier three were 25V836 in December 2025 for 629 vehicles, then 26V028 for 670 and 26V030 for 43,881 in January 2026. Root cause unknown and no remedy filed; owners are asked to hold charging to 80%.

General Motors recalled the Chevrolet Bolt in 2021 under 21V560 (57,414 vehicles) and 21V650 (52,414) for battery fires in LG cells. Its interim advice was a 90% charge limit, parking outside after charging and no indoor overnight charging, and the final remedy was replacement of the battery modules.