VW to cap recalled ID.4s at 80% charge from October 27

Volkswagen is moving from advice to action on its ID.4 battery recall in the US. Owners of affected cars are getting a notification in the myVW app: unless they decline by 21 October 2026, the company will apply a temporary setting on or about 27 October that stops the battery charging past 80%, InsideEVs reports, citing screenshots posted by owners on Reddit.

Which cars are affected

The recall, which we covered when it was announced, covers 22,524 ID.4s from model years 2023 to 2026. All of them were built in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and use battery cells supplied by SK from its plant in Georgia. That is almost a third of the nearly 80,000 ID.4s sold in the US across those model years.

According to the recall documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the high-voltage battery can develop a defect that may lead to a fire. Volkswagen has not yet found the root cause, so there is no permanent repair. What it does know is that the risk is lower when the battery stays below 80%, which is why it calls the cap "an interim risk-reduction measure".

Why owners are unhappy

The timing is awkward. The ID.4 Pro S AWD is rated at 263 miles (about 423 km) of EPA range in ideal conditions. Losing the top 20% of the battery is likely to push real-world range under 200 miles, InsideEVs estimates, and the cold makes it worse: winter tests it cites show the ID.4 losing up to 37% of its range. The good news is that VW believes only about 0.1% of recalled cars, fewer than 25 vehicles, actually have the defect.

If you charge to 80% anyway for daily driving, little changes; our EV battery care guide explains why many owners already do. A home EV charger also makes it easier to top up more often instead of relying on long single charges.