VW Temporarily Stops ID.4 Production And Sales, What Causes It?

Volkswagen ID.4. (Doc. Volkswagen Group)

JAKARTA - Volkswagen (VW) announced suspending production from electric vehicle lines (EV), ID.4 at the Chattanooga factory, United States (US).

The move was taken in order to find improvements to the mechanism for opening the wrong electronic door, causing the door to open unexpectedly.

Launching from InsideEVs, Monday, September 23, the issue also sparked a recall involving nearly 100,000 ID.4 units of the country's market specifications and has issued an order to stop sales.

In addition, this incident also made around 200 employees laid off and the production process could be stopped until the beginning of the year.

VW spokesman Michael W. Lowder said his party would temporarily stop production of ID.4 until the solution to this problem is stopped.

"After an extensive review, in response to the discontinuation of ID.4 sales, we will temporarily suspend vehicle production at Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant until a solution is available," Lowder said.

Meanwhile, the incident triggered a recall of 98,806 units equipped with an electronic door handle that did not provide adequate water protection.

If not given protection, humidity can enter the circuit board which has the potential to trigger an "open" order while driving. The model involved is 2021 to 2024 production and the four door handles need to be replaced.

The German automaker also said he would check every door handle and replace it with a better variant if needed. In addition, VW will also update the software to fix it.

This adds to the list of problems that occurred in the hatchback in the US. Previously, the manufacturer made a recall request involving around 51,500 units last May.

The start of the recall program was caused by a similar problem, namely concerns about open vehicle doors while driving. The agency stated that they had received at least 12 complaints related to the production ID.4 model between 2021 and 2023.

Some vehicle owners report that the vehicle's doors are open at any time while driving without being detected naturally. Although there are no reports of casualties or injuries, of course this could endanger the lives of car owners or other road users.

According to NHTSA, the vehicle affected by the recall was also part of the previous withdrawal caused by the seepage of water from the door.