Why a charger is telling EV drivers to step out of their car and charge till 80%

I stopped at a Circle K charger in Karlsruhe. On the screen was a warning I had never seen on a charger before.

Some electric vehicles are affected by manufacturer recalls. Charge the battery to a maximum of 80%. Leave the vehicle while charging.

My first thought was a Mercedes that caught fire while charging at an Aral station in Hamburg, just two days earlier. Maybe that was it. But the notice named no car OEM. It only pointed to the KBA, Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority.

So I looked it up. I was blown away by how big this is. And I was sleeping on it.

Volkswagen is recalling ID.3, ID.4, ID.7, ID. Buzz and Cupra Born models, and Audi the Q4 e-tron. In the KBA's words: high-voltage batteries that do not meet the specification can overheat and cause a fire. So far, the KBA knows of no incidents with damage or injuries.

What happens now? As I understood, owners get a recall letter with warning stickers for the charging socket and the car's display, and the instruction not to charge above 80%. VW also plans to cap the charge at 80% in the car itself, with an over-the-air update. Once it is ready, a software update follows that can spot problems in the battery modules early. Cars it flags go to the workshop, where single modules or the entire battery are replaced if needed. Audi owners need a workshop check first. I don't know whether the software comes over the air or at the workshop. In the past it was usually OTA, but once I had to take my ID.5 to the workshop for a software update.

This could become extremely expensive. Even if no battery has to be replaced, we are talking millions of euros.

And if modules have to be replaced, the number is very different. In the worst case, the KBA notice names it itself: the entire battery. I do not want to imagine that number.

Who pays for all of this? In a separate US recall of 22,524 ID.4s, where VW also asks drivers to charge only to 80%, VW named the cell supplier: SK Battery America. For the European cars, I do not know which cell maker it is. But when I was deciding on my VW ID.5 in 2022, I remember the main suppliers were LG and SK On. Having worked with OEMs, I know a big part of this bill will go to the supplier. Every supplier hopes for the fewest failures, because a multi-million bill like this is a devastating hit.

I am honestly glad my car never caught fire.

In 14 months my VW ID.5 went to the workshop five times. Always the same problem: the air conditioning. And every time I called, the dealership said the same thing, by the book: do not drive an inch, bring the car in right away. Why? A potential fire hazard. If you drive it or charge it, it can heat up, and in the worst case it can catch fire.

I made a video about it in September 2024. It is the most passionate video I ever made, and it never got any views. If you are interested, you can watch it here:

It was a company car, and when my job ended, I returned it. I loved that car so much. But I was extremely frustrated by the constant problems.

If you have chargers on your site and a recalled car catches fire while charging, who carries the cost? I would say the car OEM, meaning their insurance. But what if there was no recall, and a car catches fire and damages your site and your charger? Who pays that bill, and what is the process?

This is a major development. But most importantly, it is a precaution, and huge props to VW for taking it. I won't call it negative: there are no reported incidents, and they put safety first. I am glad to see this positive step, and hopefully it gets fixed soon.

A wrong charger is hard to undo. The maker goes out of business. Or the charger sits broken for four months, even under warranty.

I am an independent e-mobility consultant. I sold over 400 DC fast chargers in Germany before going on my own. Since then, I have advised charger makers on building their channel sales. I have built my own database of 600+ DC charger models available in the EU: all-in-one, split and battery-integrated, from 30 kW to 1,600 kW+. I also track 100,000+ DC charging points across Europe, down to the real chargers behind them. So I know who performs well, and which chargers are already being replaced.

I work with site owners, fleets and charging operators to:

Is your site outside Germany, somewhere else in the EU? No worries, I can help you there too.

Email me at [email protected]

Source

KBA recall database, references 17101R, 17103R, 17137R and 17222R.