The Volkswagen ID.4 has been one of the best-selling electric vehicles in many markets since its introduction in late 2020. We've reviewed it here and had mostly positive things to say about the all-electric compact crossover SUV from Wolfsburg.
However, there's a big difference between driving a car for a few hours at a media event, and living with a car for over a year as the host of the YouTube channel E For Electric, Alex Guberman has.
Guberman explains in the video that he loved his ID.4 First Edition when he first got it and admitted to being a huge fan of the vehicle from the original unveiling.
However, according to Guberman, the honeymoon is long over and he may in fact be filing for diverse if the relationship doesn't improve soon. And by relationship, I mean the consistent software glitches, bugs, and command failures that have not only plagued the vehicle since he got it but seem to actually be getting worse, leading him to say he'd like to "push it off a cliff".
Some of the nagging issues Guberman claims:
- The charging connector doesn't release as it should when unlocking the doors
- The tire pressure monitoring system gives false low-pressure warnings and also fails to display the actual tire pressure
- Very long bootup period for the infotainment system
- Android Auto fails to connect and sometimes disconnects while driving
- While responding to voice messages, the audio lowers or turns off after the message is sent
- The center infotainment screen shuts off and reboots randomly
- The backup camera often doesn't work properly
- The smartphone app throws random error messages and takes too long to connect
Guberman says the app is constantly throwing error messages and takes way too long to initiate a command. Sometimes when he sends a command to turn on the air conditioning, he can send the command, walk out of his apartment and to the vehicle, and the air conditioning still hasn't turned on.
If you're thinking that Guberman may just be exaggerating the problems, we've seen many other reports from journalists and owners that have complained about ID.4 software problems. Additionally, Guberman recently ran a poll in his FaceBook ID.4 owners group (that has nearly 12,000 members) asking if owners had problems with their vehicles and what type of issues they have experienced.
In the poll, only 34% reported having no issues at all, and an amazing 40% of respondents reported having had software problems.
Guberman used to have a very good relationship with Volkswagen, and when he complained to Volkswagen of America last year about these issues, they set up a meeting with Guberman and a software expert from Germany. The E For Electric host reported that the expert blamed a lot of the issues on Google, which didn't sit well with him.
Before making the video, Guberman claims he reached out to Volkswagen of America to see if they would come on his channel to talk about the continued problems, but the company declined.
