A class-action lawsuit in the US has flagged the touch controls on Volkswagen’s ID.4 as defective and dangerous.
In the United States, two Volkswagen owners have launched a class-action lawsuit claiming the touch-sensitive steering wheel controls used on the electric ID.4 SUV have led to accidents.
Volkswagen has replaced physical buttons on a number of its new models with touch controls that allow touch, click, and slide-style inputs.
Owners have outlined the ability for the cruise control system to be unintentionally resumed when parking and moving their hands across the steering wheel’s touchpad surfaces.
The lawsuit identifies the Volkswagen ID.4 built between 2021 and 2023 and sold in the United States, launched by two owners specifically, but including "all others similarly situated," as affected by the claimed issue.
The lawsuit argues that the steering wheel touch controls and the ease with which they can trigger the adaptive cruise control constitute a defect.
The filing identifies several situations where owners have claimed to have accidentally resumed the adaptive cruise control system, resulting in their vehicles lurching forward and causing property damage and personal injury.
Alongside the claims of defective haptic controls, for which the plaintiffs are seeking a recall and an unspecified resolution, the suit also identifies situations where ID.4s have failed to trigger safety systems or have overridden user brake inputs to avoid collisions.
Volkswagen management has previously identified the brand’s move to touch controls for some car functions as an area for improvement, and has moved to replace the haptic buttons fitted to vehicles with physical button pads as new or updated models launch.
In Australia, haptic steering wheel controls have been used on vehicles including the Golf, T-Roc, Touareg, ID. Buzz, ID.4 and ID.5, among others.
The latest updates to the Mk 8.5 Golf have seen a return to physical controls, and newly launched vehicles like the Tiguan and Tayron family SUVs have not adopted the steering wheel touch surfaces.
Despite the control interface being used across multiple vehicle lines, the class-action launched in the US applies only to the ID.4 electric SUV.
Kez Casey migrated from behind spare parts counters to writing about cars over ten years ago. Raised by a family of automotive workers, Kez grew up in workshops and panel shops before making the switch to reviews and road tests for The Motor Report, Drive and CarAdvice.
