Most likely because this specific issue can be fixed in a couple hours, not days. It will be MANY months (a year?) before all cars would have gotten the full update.
2021 Recall 23V-040
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You know, the NHTSA bulletin reads kind of like a coverup/whitewash to me. Spin control, no consideration of corner case safety issues. “Driver retains full control”, except for those pesky scenarios described elsewhere on this board that could cause the disabled vehicle to be rear-ended or start a chain-reaction pileup.
EDIT: Coverup by VW, which has known about this problem for over a year. NHTSA forced them into this recall.
EDIT: Coverup by VW, which has known about this problem for over a year. NHTSA forced them into this recall.
Well dang I'd love to say that's crazy, but it i apply my fluff extractor to today's email and rearrange the order of the delivery...
"Service Action 97FY was put on hold.
"Your safety and that of your passengers is our highest priority.
"Software improvements will be necessary to address important concerns."
... you could be right! Gee I hope that isn't the case.
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Yeah, I as well read those number as the fault code vs the number of incidents. Though if it's the number of incidents, then it would make sense to be a global count of them. Not every VIN in that range was a US VIN, as I can't believe VW sold 66,000 2021's in the US (US: Volkswagen ID.4 Set New Sales Record In Q4 2022 (insideevs.com)
That's probably also why they say it's limited to certain VINs. It probably is EVERY VIN in that production run that WAS shipped to the US, but that will not be EVERY car that was made as a 2021 and shipped someplace else from Germany. Presumably replacing the inverter as noted later got it updated firmware that corrected the issue, which is why the stock answer was the replace it.
It's entirely possible to rev software and yet still have a hard time tracking down an edge case bug, especially in a complicated feedback system like modern autos. While we no longer in an EV have open loop/close loop operation of a lambda sensor, we still have super complicated electronic switching going on on the fly, in real time. It's what let you go from regen to power without a hitch. Everything instantly changes direction electronically. Throw in a BMS, a battery system whose charge characteristics change over time pretty dramatically, dynamically, and constantly, etc. etc. and you have a more simple to describe, but no less complicated to manage drivetrain.
I for one am glad they found it, that they were able to isolate it, and that they hopefully have a plan to fix it. So far, nobody has died because of it, and hopefully that will remain the case. The safety recall doesn't obsolve them of liability. Let's hope that the 2.4 upgrade now includes these updates (they were tinkering with the BMS before anyhow), and that this new information may now be forcing their hand to either move the whole think faster OR what I'm afraid might happen is they will split it in 2 as they did in many places in Europe and it will be hurry up and get 2.4 on everything and we will catch up with the other later.
I'm not sure NHSTA forced anyone's hand BTW. If they were, surely the European safety group would have also moved against them for the same reason, and we don't hear that happening, at least not yet. When you read the letter on the NHSTA website, it reads like a 'thank you VW for reporting this issue. May we remind you of the following laws, rules, etc. governing your recall'. It takes 6 weeks to get it going because the government requires like 2 weeks of preview of the documentation being sent to owners.
That's probably also why they say it's limited to certain VINs. It probably is EVERY VIN in that production run that WAS shipped to the US, but that will not be EVERY car that was made as a 2021 and shipped someplace else from Germany. Presumably replacing the inverter as noted later got it updated firmware that corrected the issue, which is why the stock answer was the replace it.
It's entirely possible to rev software and yet still have a hard time tracking down an edge case bug, especially in a complicated feedback system like modern autos. While we no longer in an EV have open loop/close loop operation of a lambda sensor, we still have super complicated electronic switching going on on the fly, in real time. It's what let you go from regen to power without a hitch. Everything instantly changes direction electronically. Throw in a BMS, a battery system whose charge characteristics change over time pretty dramatically, dynamically, and constantly, etc. etc. and you have a more simple to describe, but no less complicated to manage drivetrain.
I for one am glad they found it, that they were able to isolate it, and that they hopefully have a plan to fix it. So far, nobody has died because of it, and hopefully that will remain the case. The safety recall doesn't obsolve them of liability. Let's hope that the 2.4 upgrade now includes these updates (they were tinkering with the BMS before anyhow), and that this new information may now be forcing their hand to either move the whole think faster OR what I'm afraid might happen is they will split it in 2 as they did in many places in Europe and it will be hurry up and get 2.4 on everything and we will catch up with the other later.
I'm not sure NHSTA forced anyone's hand BTW. If they were, surely the European safety group would have also moved against them for the same reason, and we don't hear that happening, at least not yet. When you read the letter on the NHSTA website, it reads like a 'thank you VW for reporting this issue. May we remind you of the following laws, rules, etc. governing your recall'. It takes 6 weeks to get it going because the government requires like 2 weeks of preview of the documentation being sent to owners.
I have a First Edition. No recall email, nothing in the MyVW app. I'm assuming I'm not affected.
EDIT : The alert just showed up in the app. Apparently, I am affected.
I'm still not sure whether the recall will apply fully to all 2021 VINs shipped to the U.S. This section indicates that the issue was fixed in production for the BMS issue from calendar week 49/2021 and for the pulse inverter issue from calendar week 20/2022:
So my reading of this is that a) not all 2021s will need both fixes (for instance, mine, which has a production complete date of 12.20.2021), and b) this might explain the mysterious "software update" that was performed at the ports of entry for the first batch of 2022s. On the forum here there was speculation that this initial batch of 2022s was getting upgraded to 3.1, but my guess is that they already had 3.1 but needed the pulse inverter software fix, which I assume would take much less time to implement than a full upgrade to 3.1.
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All First Editions are 2021 models. This is confusing.
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yeah, I agree. Those of us toward the end of the production run may only end up with one of them. My car is dated on the production sticker as 12/21. I don't see anyplace else on the sticker that says the actual production week.
I had gotten my production week from my dealer, by the way, and the production complete, VIN-assigned date was 12/20/21.
Maybe this has something to do with the fact that I've not seen a single software issue with my car since I got it almost exactly a year ago.
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Yeah, someone said you can get your production week from the sticker on the lower door panel. I took a picture of that sticker and it says the month and year, but not the actual week. I looked to see if I still had any of the production paperwork, and I don't. So I still think the fastest way to get it is from a dealer or maybe VW Care.
We too have had zero software issues.
We too have had zero software issues.
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2021 ID.4 AWD Pro S Gradient Scale Sliver/Black and 2022 GTI Autobahn DSG Silver/Black
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This is intriguing. My 2021 with a production date of 12/2021 and a vin very close to the end of the 2021 production, sat mysteriously at the port for six weeks. Then during PDI they had some faults and it took another couple weeks to get parts to clear them up. Car has been flawless 13K miles later. I wonder whether the port delay had anything to do with this recall.
Last February, mine sat at the port for like 10 days, too.... But no one ever told me why.
I also own one of these mid-late December '21s that sat in port w/o explanation for 2 weeks. I've just turned over 19,000 miles, and car has been flawless during the past year. Is it just dumb luck so far or did VW sort something out in these late '21s before switching to the '22 production? I'd decided to be last in line on the SW upgrade, whenever it might come, since I haven't yet had any real issues w/ the version I'm running.
No, we're all human and we're terrible at evaluating risk rationally, hyper-focusing on minutia posing insignificant risk and largely out of our control , and ignoring real threats.
No dumb luck here – most owners are apparently not affected this problem. Most owners are living a relatively trouble-free life.
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Volkswagen REALLY doesn't understand Customer Relationship Management in the modern, connected world.
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Not really true; the Tesla did heavy braking. The ID.4 fault seems to just provoke the equivalent of an ICE car's motor stalling: you coast but with full steering and friction-braking control.
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This is obviously a significant ID.4 issue. However I agree that it's more in line with an ICE vehicle where the timing chain/belt has snapped (Old's Firenza a couple times in my experience; they were "experimenting" with a rubberoid belt). Suddenly no propulsion and quickly looking for a place to pull over, which is of course very problematic if in a highway center lane!
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