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Germany's KBA lists three Volkswagen battery recalls covering 72,668 EVs worldwide, 9,881 in Germany, while the root cause and the European cell supplier remain unconfirmed.
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A Volkswagen ID.4, one of the models in the battery recall. File image from Volkswagen's newsroom; it does not show an affected vehicle.
Image: Volkswagen
Source · Press image from the Volkswagen newsroom, used for news reporting.
Volkswagen is recalling 72,668 electric vehicles worldwide in a battery recall that includes 9,881 vehicles in Germany, over battery cells that do not meet specifications, according to data from Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) reported by Electrek on Oct. 21.
The three KBA recalls cover 72,668 EVs worldwide, according to Electrek's reporting of KBA data.
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The KBA lists three separate recalls. They cover certain batches of the ID.3, ID.4, ID.7 and ID. Buzz built between 2022 and 2025, and the Cupra Born built between 2022 and 2024. Volkswagen traced the problem to a supplier defect after an internal investigation, Electrek reported.
Volkswagen warned that certain charging profiles combined with a state of charge above 80% may trigger thermal propagation, meaning a fire that spreads between cells inside the pack. Until a remedy is available, owners are told to charge to no more than 80%, and where technically possible the vehicle limits charging to that level itself, Electrek reported. In the US, Volkswagen told owners it would apply the 80% limit remotely unless they opted out by Oct. 21.
The worldwide figure builds on a US recall of 22,524 ID.4 SUVs, model years 2023 to 2026, filed with NHTSA (campaign 26V630). In that filing Volkswagen said the root cause is still unknown, and that its Product Safety Committee asked cell supplier SK Battery America for further clarification on production and a potential clean date. Electrek reported 22 US claims between Jan. 18, 2024 and Aug. 7, 2026. The reports Voltgrid read do not name the cell supplier for the European vehicles.
An 80% cap takes the top fifth of the charge window out of use from affected cars until a fix arrives. It also shows the cost of a cell-level quality escape: one supplier defect spans several models, two continents and four production years. Voltgrid News reported earlier on Tesla's Texas Megafactory start.
Volkswagen has not published a permanent remedy. US owner letters are expected on Nov. 27, 2026, with more to follow once a fix exists. The root cause and the supplier behind the European cells remain unconfirmed.
