Volkswagen caps some ID.4 batteries at 80% while it hunts for a fire-risk fix

What Volkswagen has filed

Volkswagen Group of America filed recall 26V630 with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on 30 September 2026. It covers 22,524 ID.4s from the 2023 to 2026 model years. The regulator's summary says the high-voltage battery may fail and lead to a vehicle fire. Volkswagen's own code for the campaign is 93EX.¹

Transport Canada published a matching recall, number 2026469, on the same date. It covers 5,633 ID.4s from the 2023 to 2025 model years and warns that an overheating battery can create a fire risk even when the car is parked and switched off. Together the two filings cover about 28,000 vehicles.²

This is the fourth ID.4 battery recall in the US in under a year. Two small campaigns filed in December 2025 and January 2026 dealt with misaligned electrodes in cell modules, and a third, covering 43,881 cars with batteries that may overheat, brought a software update and battery replacement where needed.³

Why 80 per cent

Volkswagen's filing, as reported by trade outlets that read it, says certain charging profiles combined with a state of charge above 80% may trigger thermal propagation, meaning heat spreading from cell to cell. The root cause is listed as unknown. The cells come from SK Battery America.^4,5

Electrek reports that Volkswagen counted 22 US claims between January 2024 and August 2026. The Auto Wire reports that Volkswagen estimates 0.1% of the recalled cars actually have the defect, and that it used build records, supplier records and the cars' own charging data to decide which vehicles to include. Neither outlet says how many of the 22 claims involved a fire.^4,5

How the cap is applied

The NHTSA record tells owners to charge to no more than 80% until the repair is done. It does not tell them to park outside or avoid rapid chargers, which was the advice in the earlier electrode recalls. Transport Canada asks owners to set the maximum charge setting to 80%.^1,2,3

AutoGuide reports that Volkswagen plans to set the 80% limit remotely on cars with an active online connection, and to post owners a reminder sticker. Some outlets report that owners can decline the automatic setting. Charjin has not seen Volkswagen's owner message, so we could not confirm how any opt-out works or when the remote change takes effect. Cars without a working connection will need the limit set by hand.⁶

What the cap costs in range

Charjin's calculation uses the EPA range for each US version and assumes rated range scales with the charge limit. A 2024 or 2025 ID.4 Pro is rated at 291 miles (468 km), so 80% leaves about 233 miles (375 km), a loss of about 58 miles. A 2023 ID.4 Pro falls from 275 to about 220 miles. The 2024 standard-range ID.4 falls from 206 to about 165 miles.⁷

The same arithmetic works for the European figures in Charjin's car file. Removing 20% of a 77 kWh usable battery takes away 15.4 kWh, worth about 97 km at the official 15.8 kWh/100 km. On the 52 kWh battery the loss is about 66 km. These are test-cycle figures, so real losses will be larger in cold weather and at motorway speed.⁸

For daily driving the cap changes little, because most trips use a small part of the battery. It matters on long trips, where the first leg from home is shorter. Rapid charging is less affected: Volkswagen's own rapid-charging claim is quoted for 10 to 80%, about 28 minutes, and charging slows above that level.⁸

What owners should do

Enter your VIN on the NHTSA or Transport Canada recall lookup; US VINs became searchable on 6 October. Set the charge limit to 80% now and do not wait for the letter. US interim letters are due to be mailed on 27 November 2026, with a second letter once a repair exists. Volkswagen's US customer service number is 1-800-893-5298, quoting 93EX.^1,2

Volkswagen is not offering reimbursement under this campaign because it says the cars are still under the new-vehicle warranty, according to The Auto Wire's reading of the filing. Still unknown: the root cause, when the repair will arrive, whether it will mean new modules or only software, and whether European ID.4s with the same cells are affected. Charjin found no matching European recall.⁵