2021 Volkswagen ID.4: sudden loss of power

Filed Sep 10, 2026 · Electrical, Engine · FL

Incident Summary VW ID.4 Loss of Power/Stall Date: Monday, September 7, 2026 Location: Highway (3-lane), traveling ~45 mph Vehicle: Volkswagen ID.4 Sequence of events: While driving at approximately 45 mph, multiple warning messages appeared in rapid succession: ESC Error "Electrical system not working correctly" "Front Assist is not available" Error Rear Traffic Alert Error "12V power supply. Safely park the vehicle! See owner's manual." The vehicle lost accelerator power and came to a stall on the highway. Driver performed a reset/restart of the vehicle. Vehicle moved approximately 100 meters before stalling again, with the same set of error codes reappearing. Prior history: Safety concern: Loss of propulsion and multiple critical system failures (ESC, electrical, driver-assist systems, 12V supply) occurring simultaneously while in highway traffic represents a significant safety hazard — both from the stall itself and from the affected safety systems (ESC, Front Assist) being disabled.

Filed Apr 7, 2026 · Electrical, Engine · MA

I am reporting a safety-related failure involving my 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. The vehicle has experienced two separate incidents where it suddenly lost power while driving and became inoperable without warning. The first occurrence happened while I was in the middle of an intersection. The vehicle lost power and could not continue moving, creating a dangerous situation with surrounding traffic. The second occurrence occurred shortly after beginning a trip, approximately one thousand feet down the road. Again, the vehicle lost power without warning and became inoperable. In both cases, after the failure occurred, the vehicle would power on and could be shifted into drive or reverse; however, the vehicle would not move or provide any propulsion in either gear. The vehicle had to be manually pushed out of the roadway. The vehicle has been brought to the dealership multiple times over the course of ownership for issues involving the electrical and high-voltage systems. Service records show repeated diagnostic procedures, recall and campaign work, and repairs involving the battery system and related control functions. Diagnostic fault codes associated with this issue have included P0BEE00 and P0BE600 (drive motor current sensor circuit faults), along with communication-related faults. Despite these multiple service visits and repairs, the condition has not been reliably resolved, indicating an ongoing and intermittent system failure. Most recently, the dealer diagnosed a failure related to the drive motor system. The rear drive motor was replaced; however, after replacement, the vehicle still would not properly communicate with the motor. The dealer has since identified the issue as being related to the control module responsible for communication with the drive motor (gateway), which also requires replacement. The vehicle has been out of service for extended periods, including a current repair period exceeding one month. Given that the vehicle has lost propulsion without w

Filed Nov 5, 2025 · Electrical, Transmission · CO

Electrical system not working correctly. Powertrain maintenance needed. Vehicle randomly had a light come on the dash, and included the message about electrical systems. Vehicle lost power, when I tried to accelerate, it was accelerating extremely slow and finally was able to get to posted speed limit of 35 in 0.5 miles. Never had a light come on until now. Recently had the 10,000 mile safety check completed by the dealer.

Filed May 23, 2025 · Electrical, Steering · CA

The car completely stopped without warning. The dashboard lit up with all the lights and informed me that the I need to pull over. There was no time to pull over as the car completely lost all power. The car was traveling on the freeway. It would not start back up and I needed to call 911 for help. The tow truck could not get the car started and the CHP needed to run a traffic break to get it towed off the road. The dealer could only find an NV-energy management alarm triggered and said it was ok to drive again. The next day driving on [XXX], when returning to my car the car said the vehicle electrical system had an error and I could not power it on. I requested a tow and the car is currently at the service department. Of note is when the car was pulled off the freeway I was able to start it and drive it home like nothing happened. Again on [XXX], the car once at the dealership was able to be powered on and driven. There were no warning lights on the car after that. If the car would have stopped while travel at 65MPH, I think there could have been a major crash and it puts the safety of me the driver as well as the other drivers around me as great risk. I have never felt uncomfortable traveling on the highway until this happened. I would never expect a car to completely shut off while travel on the highway with no way of pulling over to the side of the road. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Sep 9, 2024 · Transmission · TN

When accelerating from stop the vehicle loses power. If the accelerator is depressed further the power does not return. However, when the accelerator is released then depressed again power returns. In our case this has happened seven (7) times. The occurrence is random and is not limited to a specific location. It has occurred on the interstate highway when approaching the traffic on an onramp as well as in town driving. On two (20 of the seven (7) occasions automobiles following have had to emergency brake to prevent a rear end collision. Losing power when merging into traffic on an interstate could pose significant safety hazards to oncoming traffic as well as the vehicle merging. The problem has been brought to the dealer's attention but they have not been able to reproduce it. It has not been inspected by police or insurance because accidents have been avoided. I have owned the car for 14 months and the occurrence is random.

Filed Jan 22, 2024 · Fuel system · TN

With the vehicle in 'B' mode, I started acceleration in a moderate fashion. After about 30 feet the car lost power. Pressing the accelerator further had no effect. Releasing the accelerator then pressing it immediately power was restored. The car has been to the dealer twice for this issue. Neither time could it be duplicated. It has happened five times in the past two months with the last incident almost resulting in an accident.

Filed May 12, 2023 · Electrical · CA

I have received several recall notices over the past 12 months, including urgent email, texts and letters, notices directly from VW, warning me the urgency of the recall,. I have been attempting to schedule an appointment with the dealer where I purchased the vehicle from in Santa Rosa, CA. The dealer has been uncooperative, and not able to provide an appointment date. I called the San Francisco VW dealer 3 months ago, and they gave me a September 2024 (which I took). Subsequently to scheduling the above appt date, I received 2 further notices from VW warning me how urgent this recall appointment is, and how I should get the work done asap. Yet no one can provide me a repair date shorter than 16 months from now (today is 5/12/2023). I don't know where the liability lies if an accident occurs since the recall is for potential sudden loss of power while driving (including high speed on freeway), which sounds extremely dangerous to me. I would like to put VW and the dealer (Hansel VW - from whom I purchased the vehicle) on notice that there will be legal action in the event of an accident due to this unrepaired recall, and also due to the anguish I have been receiving due to this issue. Your (the federal safety agency)'s help to resolve this very bad issue will be very much appreciated.

Filed Dec 19, 2022 · Electrical, Transmission · CA

On Monday, December 19, 2022, at approximately 1:30 p.m., driving at 70 miles per hour, my Volkswagen W ID.4 car suddenly lost electric power and I was unable to accelerate. I was driving on Highway 680 South, near the Livorna exit, on the Livorna Zone Express Lanes when this occurred in Contra Costa County, California. The car's user interface panel flashed the message, "Electrical system not working correctly. Please service vehicle." From the second lane on a four-lane highway, with the remaining speed, as the car dramatically slowed, I coasted to the right shoulder and came to a complete stop. During this entire time, there was no power. This was extremely dangerous and stressful as I was concerned of highway speed traffic approaching from behind and being unable to reach the shoulder safely without any power. There, at the right shoulder, I turned on the hazard lights and called my husband. He told me to exit and reenter the car, as safely as possible, to try to restart the system. I exited the car from the passenger side. When I reentered the car, the system restarted and the electric power returned. The vehicle had power again and I was able to safely re-enter the freeway lanes. This same error "Electrical system not working correctly. Please service vehicle" occurred previously two times when the vehicle was not moving (i.e. when trying to start driving from a stop) in the last year and a half. For these 2 previous incidents, my husband had opened service requests for repairs under warranty to the VW dealer in Walnut Creek, CA and they confirmed the faults and serviced the vehicle by bleeding the coolant system each time. Both times they assured me this would resolve the problem. This is the first time the same problem recurred while the vehicle was in motion resulting in total loss of power and put me in a dangerous situation.

Filed Jul 18, 2022 · Electrical · AZ

Stop car now error message in red while driving on the freeway. The car lost power for a moment then continued. Multiple errors with assisted driving. Multiple issues with main display being upside down or blank. Electrical malfunction while backing out of drive way. At this point the car was towed to VW and the VW engineering group had them replace the front VX-9 motor assembly and the Dc/DC converter (2374 miles) ( 4/20/22 VW invoice# VWCS344651). The car then ran with out issue for about 3500 miles then another electrical malfunction occurred. The error / alarm cleared on its own after a few minutes. Later it was plugged in for charging and tripped the 220 vac / 50 amp circuit. Car is at VW for repair again 7/18/22

Filed Jul 8, 2022 · Electrical, Engine · VA

Driving on the highway and with no warning got an “error” message and a message that the electrical system was shutting down. Also popped up some reference about the 12 volt battery. Car went into a neutral type mode and started to slow due to complete loss of power. Luckily we were able to get to the emergency lane from the middle highway lane and coast to a stop. Extremely dangerous for a complete loss of power to occur with no warning. Car turned itself off while we were calling VW roadside assistance. It then was able to be turned back on and driven as normal. Based on VW id4 blogs, this is happening too often and dealerships are not able to determine it through diagnostics.

Filed May 15, 2022 · Acceleration, Electrical · WA

I was on the freeway going 70 mph. Red warning lights came on saying to stop car immediately. The car lost all power. I was able to get on the shoulder and called State Patrol because I was barely off a busy freeway. They advised me to get a tow truck. The Infotainment system was completely blank. All that worked were my emergency flashers. After ten minutes of trying to turn car back on, everything re booted and I was able to drive home.

Filed Jul 30, 2021 · Electrical, Transmission · AZ

While pulling out of a parking garage at low speed, the car shut down/stopped/lost all power. Also, a second event occurred while backing into a charging station, the car shut down/stopped/lost all power.