VW ID.4 Owners File Lawsuit Over ‘Defective’ Touch Controls

Early owners and reviewers of new Volkswagen EVs like the VW ID4 and ID Buzz have been fairly vocal about how unsatisfying the interior interface controls can be. The German automaker opted for capacitive touch points and sliders instead of physical buttons and switches. Now, a class-action lawsuit issued in New Jersey back in June alleges those very controls are unsafe, and that the feature was misrepresented by marketing claims regarding ease of use and safety.

Details Of The Class-Action Lawsuit

The lawsuit cites Janice Beecher and Omar Hakkaoui as plaintiffs, along with “all others similarly situated,” against the defendant, Volkswagen Group of America. The lawsuit focuses on 2021 through 2023 model years of the Volkswagen ID4 electric SUV sold in the US, and is particularly concerned with the vehicle’s Adaptive Cruise Control feature and its steering-mounted haptic controls. The lawsuit argues that the haptic controls for the system should be considered a “defect” that VW failed to disclose or discover in its development testing.

Volkswagen

According to the lawsuit, “the Class Vehicles’ overly touch sensitive capacitive steering wheels automatically engage Adaptive Cruise Control (“ACC”) with a mere light brush of the hand over the steering wheel’s haptic controls. This results in sudden and unintended acceleration while owners are driving the Class Vehicle.” In this instance, the Class Vehicle would be the 2021-2023 ID4.

The suit also claims that some of these issues have led to fatal crashes for certain plaintiffs, and others have suffered significant injury, leaving them “terrified and hesitant to drive” their ID4. Scrolling through 70 pages of online NHTSA customer complaints for all model years of the VW ID4 in the US, there are a few that cite unintended acceleration, with fewer still specifically calling out the ACC system as a potential cause, though some of them refer to it as a “known issue.” Only one apparent NHTSA complaint directly calls out the ACC system’s haptic controls as dangerous, though that complaint says the cited incident did not lead to a crash.

Volkswagen

The complaint also suggests that VW marketed the ID4 as safer for having fewer buttons, with additional levels of input with features like voice control. Here’s one chief complaint outlined:

“In addition to concealing the Defect, Defendant actively mispresented the attributes and capabilities of the Class Vehicles by claiming, among other things, that the vehicles had been thoroughly tested, had no manufacturing shortcomings, and were equipped with robust technology that made the Class Vehicles safe to drive on a regular basis.”

The lawsuit alleges that VW’s response to impacted owners is that each incident was “driver error.” The lawsuit demands that VW issue a recall for the defect with unspecified “repairs” requested, as well as coverage of monetary damages for the dozens of cited complaints.

Volkswagen

There Are Other Concerns, Too

The lawsuit also alleges that the IQ.Drive infotainment and driver display systems are defective and unsafe. It alleges that “IQ.Drive safety features failed to activate in critical situations,” including some attempts to use the brake pedal to disengage the ACC system: “the emergency braking system failed to activate, or the Class Vehicle continued to accelerate despite the driver pressing the brakes.” This is where the suit claims there were fatalities in some of the resulting incidents. Many complaints allege that, not only did the brakes not apply in extreme and obvious crash situations where they likely should have, but the airbags also seemingly failed to adequately deploy in some circumstances.

Volkswagen

The real gut punch for Volkswagen is the end of the lawsuit, which cites multiple senior, current VW executives openly admitting to knowing about “a small number of complaints” related to haptic controls, and the announcement that the brand will return to traditional buttons, with multiple people referring to haptics as a “mistake.”

CarBuzz reached out to Volkswagen for comment, but a spokesperson declined to respond regarding ongoing litigation.

Source: CarScoops; TruthInAdvertising.org