Volkswagen is recalling all of its 2023-2024 electric ID.4 crossovers with panoramic sunroofs in the United States. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), all Volkswagen ID.4 models sold with its glass roof option in the U.S. fail to meet fire retardant safety standards.
In a letter written to VW, the NHTSA said: “The interior sunshade for the panoramic glass roof may be insufficiently fire retardant. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 302, Flammability of Interior Materials.'”
Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that the sunroof shade is going to spontaneously combust or anything. In the event of a fire, any interior material that doesn’t meet fire retardant standards will only become additional fuel. Having fire retardant on certain interior materials just decreases the number of things that can burn, or at least burn easily, thus limiting the size of the fire.
Thankfully, it’s a pretty easy fix and one that’s covered by Volkswagen. All 23,883 affected ID.4 owners will have to take their car to their nearest VW dealer to have fire retardant applied to the sunroof shade, free of charge.
Not all ID.4s are optioned with the panoramic sunroof but all models that do have the option are included in the recall. The ID.4’s panoramic sunroof is just a glass roof with a rollout sunshade, as the glass itself doesn’t open. You can even open the sunshade with natural voice commands, such as telling the car that there isn’t enough light in the cabin. However, currently, only ID.4 S models and up are available with the panoramic sunroof for 2024.
Volkswagen will be sending notification letters to affected owners on January 5, 2024, but owners can call VW’s customer service number to find out about their car if they don’t want to wait for the letter.
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