VW recalls thousands of electric cars worldwide

The recall action due to a faulty screw was not long ago. VW has to admit the next mistake. With several e-models, potentially faulty batteries must be checked.

Updated: Oct 20, 2026, 6:04 PM 2 min read deublitz newsroom Negative

ID.3 and ID.4 model at the VW plant in Wolfsburg

The car manufacturer VW calls almost 72,700 e-cars into the workshops worldwide. The reason for this: faulty batteries. In Germany, the total of three recalls is around 10,000 vehicles, according to data from the Federal Motor Transport Office (KBA). Therefore, the VW models ID.3, ID.4, ID.7 and ID are mostly affected. Buzz and the Cupra Born.

That Volkswagen is preparing a recall due to faulty batteries, was already known last week. Internal quality tests had shown, according to the group, that individual high-voltage battery cells in certain vehicles do not meet the quality requirements. This is due to production errors at suppliers. “In rare cases this can lead to an increased thermal load on these batteries, in extreme cases a fire could occur,” it said.

A limited production period is therefore affected. For the models ID.3, ID.4, ID.7 and ID. Buzz includes two recall vehicles built between 2022 and 2025. The Born model of the Spanish VW subsidiary Cupra is about vehicles from the years 2022 to 2024. Incidents with material or personal injury were initially unknown according to KBA data.

The batteries must be checked according to the information in the workshops. Until then, keepers should charge their vehicles only up to a maximum of 80 percent and attach warning labels. Where technically possible, the system itself limits the available loading capacity. Only when a battery is rated as ok can the limitation be lifted.

The owners of affected cars are informed by letter. It contains all important information – including the exact process and the contact persons. Further corrective measures should also be notified in writing. According to a VW spokesperson, battery modules affected by the fault do not necessarily have to be replaced – a software update may suffice.

At the end of September, VW had called a good five million cars into the workshops worldwide because of a corrosion-prone screw on the steering. In individual cases, the error can impair the attachment of the steering system and thus its function. In Germany, almost 1.4 million vehicles from VW and the Group brands Audi, Seat and Škoda are affected by the recall.

It is also not the first recall due to battery problems in the current year: In March, VW and Cupra had ordered more than 90,000 cars into the workshops worldwide – 28,000 of them in Germany.