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2023 VOLKSWAGEN ID.4 — FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

fire · 2195405 · 2026-04-10

Vehicle

Make
VOLKSWAGEN
Model
ID.4
Year
2023
Manufacturer
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Component
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
0
Fire
Yes
Crash
No
Police report
Yes
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

I was charging at Electrify America charging station for approximately 20 minutes when suddenly I felt the ID.4 shaking and then seconds later I was surrounded by smoke coming from outside and beneath the ID.4. The ID.4 was not turned on and was completely stationary. I unplugged the vehicle. During this time I made a best effort to not inhale but it happened so quickly that it was unavoidable. The smoke smelled really toxic and tasted like chemicals. I felt nauseous and woozy afterwards. I called 911 to report the smoke coming out of my ID.4. Call was made at 6pm, seconds after the smoke started pouring out. The vehicle was releasing extreme amounts of cloudy thick white smoke and it completely engulfed the ID.4 itself. There was also an orange/pink-like liquid pouring out of the left side of the vehicle from the bottom. The fire department came and from what they told me, they cut a "cut loop" to prevent the battery from continuing to get more power. They told me the cells in the battery were continuing to release energy and heat to the point that it was melting the carpets in the ID.4's floor. They hosed it down for over 2 hours until the battery was cooled off enough and safe to be towed to a safe area. There had been no warning leading to this. The car did not alarm of any issues.

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
11730304
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown