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Volkswagen to halt US ID.4 production following 100K vehicle recall

Volkswagen to halt ID.4 production in the US following nearly 100,000 vehicle recall

https://electrek.co/2024/09/18/volkswagen-halt-us-id-4-production-100k-vehicle-recall/

Volkswagen plans to temporarily halt ID.4 production at its Chattanooga, TN, plant following a nationwide recall involving nearly 100,000 models....

Volkswagen to halt ID.4 production in the US following nearly 100,000 vehicle recall

The company’s letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stated the door handles could allow water to enter the circuit board assembly, which may lead to the doors opening unexpectedly.

According to Volkswagen, the production halt could last until the beginning of next year as it works to resolve the issue.

10 comments

burble

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Why did they need to reinvent and overcomplicate a door handle in the first place?

NotMyOldRedditName

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Efficiency, it's not insignificant.

With gas cars people don't really notice since it's easy to refuel, but we've probably wasted 10s of billions of dollars in fuel over the decades and all the co2 emissions that adds up to over it.

Edit: Just an example of numbers... In 2022 the USA alone used 135.73 billion gallons of gasoline. Take even just 1% of that and it's 1.357 billion gallons of fuel lost to aero drag, but it's likely more than 1%. US average cost of gas is $3.224 a gallon. So that's $4.378 billion in wasted fuel in 2022 and a large amount of unnecessary emissions, assuming this was all from cars (but it probably wasn't) . That's like if the entire USA didn't drive for multiple days. And that's just the USA. Imagine if the whole world just didn't drive for 3-4 days.

Maalus

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Those fancy curves in the front do way more to increase drag than regular door handles ever did. The answer is simple - Tesla did it and it looked fancy so they copied the thing that was "successful".

NotMyOldRedditName

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Typical whataboutism. What about the front!

You asked why they did it, this is why they did it, it's not insignificant.

Maalus

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It is insignificant and you saying it isn't just means you ate the hook like a pelican. It is what they say they did, not why they actually did it - and that is to look cool and allow people to brag about aerodynamics when they know jack shit about the subject. When actually tested the impact is that they add around a kilometer to the range of the car - at a cost of mechanical complexity, difficulty in replacement and potential risk to lives of the people using them.

NotMyOldRedditName

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Please cite the 1km that was tested, because all speculation I've seen on the internet is that it's at least 2-3 miles (3.2km -> 4.8km)

And if you think 2-3 miles is insignificant, you're wrong.

You tell your boss at a car company that you know a way to get 2-3 more miles out of the car and you'll get a promotion.

NotMyOldRedditName

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Just been thinking about this since posting. Why only the US and why so long if only US?

If they're using different parts in US and it's fine in the EU, then switch to what the EU is doing and be quick about it?

If it's the same, then maybe we'll hear about an EU recall soon?

jqubed

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If the US version is not the same as the EU version there’s probably a regulatory reason they’re not using the EU version. Or maybe an EU recall is coming. I don’t know the specifics here, but generally if a US vehicle is different from its EU version there’s a regulatory reason.

Car makers would prefer if North American and European regulators could agree to a single standard for everything because it would simplify their designs and lower costs, as well as open more markets to niche vehicles that aren’t worth the investment to modify, but it hasn’t happened so far. There’s a mix of egos in play as well as legitimately different needs for different regions, but the legitimate issues should be resolvable if there was political will.

EDIT: I suppose it’s also possible the Chattanooga plant just was following a bad assembly procedure or sourced a bad part that isn’t an issue from other factories.

NotMyOldRedditName

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If it's really different due to regulations thats one thing, but with regards to your edit I'm just surprised at how long it's being shut down if it was an assembly or bad part. This sounds bigger than that if it's a multi month fix.

jqubed

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Yeah, a long shutdown for a fix sounds like they’re needing to redesign something and test/certify the fix. That keeps me more in the mind that this is a unique North America part (unless Europe also announces a recall soon) and that would probably be significantly different for a regulatory reason.