— A Volkswagen ID.4 battery recall has caused two customers to file a class action lawsuit regarding 2023-2025 VW ID.4 vehicles.
The VW ID.4 battery recall lawsuit was filed by Timothy Y. Chen and Robert Warren, both who claim tens of thousands of SUVs are defective even though they were recalled.
The class action wasn't filed until Volkswagen issued two small ID.4 battery recalls then a final recall of nearly 44,000 vehicles in January 2026.
The Volkswagen ID.4 Battery Recall
In January 2024, VW learned of an ID.4 battery fire while using a Level 3 DC charger. Volkswagen couldn't find the root cause of the thermal event but knew it came from within the high voltage battery.
More ID.4 battery fires were reported, but some occurred when the vehicles were parked and not being charged. Other battery thermal events occurred while driving.
According to the battery recall, Volkswagen warned 2023-2025 ID.4 customers to park outside and not charge the high voltage batteries more than 80% until the SUVs were repaired. Customers were also told not to charge their vehicles overnight and not to use Level 3 DC chargers.
Battery supplier SK Battery America discovered two problems, both related to misaligned battery electrodes.
Computer scans and teardowns of the batteries showed damaged battery cells with shifted electrodes. VW was able to determine which vehicles had misaligned battery cathodes. But the battery supplier later found a "second hardware issue from production that potentially could result in a different shifted electrode condition."
Volkswagen believes a software update would have helped.
"Despite not having a clear root cause for these incidents, there is data that indicates that self-discharge detection (SDD) software would have triggered a warning in advance of at least three (3) known incidents." — VW
Volkswagen issued the recall of nearly 44,000 SUVs to check the ID.4 batteries on vehicles that didn't have the detection software. In addition, ID.4 batteries with faulty cell modules would have the modules replaced.
Volkswagen ID.4 battery recall letters were mailed in March.
VW ID.4 Battery Recall Lawsuit
The class action lawsuit was filed by two California customers.
California plaintiff Timothy Y. Chen leased a 2025 Volkswagen ID.4 and California plaintiff Robert Warren leased a 2023 Volkswagen ID.4. The plaintiffs complain they cannot use their electric vehicles as intended with an 80% battery charge limitation and an overnight charging restriction.
And the plaintiffs complain not being able to use quick charging Level 3 DC chargers increases the charging time.
"Without access to the fast charger, using an 11 kW Level 2 charger would take 6 hours and 15 minutes to 7 hours and 30 minutes to fully charge the 2023 VW ID.4." — VW ID.4 class action lawsuit
According to the ID.4 battery lawsuit, Volkswagen advertised the SUVs to induce consumers to lease and purchase the vehicles that in the real-world do not match the advertising.
The Volkswagen ID.4 battery recall lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey: Timothy Y. Chen, et al., v. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft and Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
The plaintiffs are represented by Carella Byrne Cecchi Brody Agnello, P.C., and Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP.