A few months ago I was driving my 2023 Volkswagen ID.4 when all of a sudden my driver’s side door made a few unusual clicks and then popped open.
“This isn’t good,” I thought as I quickly closed the door and tried to put my hands on the steering wheel. Apparently I’m not the only one with this problem. Hundreds of other Volkswagen owners also struggled to close their doors while driving.
The problem came to a head this week when Volkswagen halted production of the all-electric ID.4 at its Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant as the company scrambles to find a fix for a defective electronic door unit. According to the recall, water seeped into the door and shorted out the electronics, causing the circuit to issue a false “open command.”
The problem came to a head this week as Volkswagen stopped production of the all-electric ID.4.
As a solution, Volkswagen said it will replace the door handles for free for car owners and will release a software update to improve “door parameters.”
Earlier this week, Volkswagen recalled nearly 100,000 ID.4 vehicles and issued a stop-sale order for the electric crossover. A company spokesman said that starting September 23, about 200 workers at the Tennessee plant will be furloughed due to the production suspension.
“While we resolve this issue, our focus is on doing the right thing for our employees, dealers and consumers during this disruption,” Volkswagen spokesman Mark Gillies said in a statement.
These are pretty bad times for the German company, which is struggling to stay competitive in the face of the looming threat from China. Earlier this month, Volkswagen said it might close several factories in Europe for the first time in a bid to cut 10 billion euros from its balance sheet.
Like most other automakers, Volkswagen has abandoned its all-electric strategy in recent months and said it will rely more on plug-in hybrids to meet its climate goals. But Gillis said the shutdown order should not be misconstrued as an abandonment of the company’s electric vehicle commitments.
“This disruption in no way changes our commitment to ID.4 and our growing BEV portfolio,” he said. “The ID.4 remains one of the best-selling electric vehicles in the United States.”
