NHTSA complaint #11564483

Owner complaint summary

I brought my 2023 Volkswagen id.4 Pro S EV to the Volkswagen dealer where the vehicle was purchased new earlier this year. This service visit was for the routine 10,000 mile inspection. Upon leaving the appointment, I drove out of the exit driveway of the dealership and made a left turn across a 5 lane road. Shortly after pulling out into the road (at approximately 15-20mph driving in "B" regenerative mode) all acceleration ability ceased despite my foot depressing the acceleration pedal. I had no ability to accelerate for about 3-4 seconds, leaving the car drifting in the middle of my turn. It wasn't until a few moments later after pumping the pedal that the acceleration ability returned. No warning lights or other changes were observed. I called the dealership about this, and after about a week they responded with "I spoke with the EV technician, he noted that because we plugged in the scanner to do the 10k service, it may have reset the basic settings of the E-motor. He noted it is normal for that to happen as when the engine dies and comes back on, it's the vehicle resetting the basic settings again. So it should not happen again." Meanwhile, I posted about my issue in an id.4 owners forum online and received 25 responses stating others had experienced the same concerning problem after a service visit. If VW dealers are releasing serviced vehicles to customers knowing what they are about to experience (momentary loss of acceleration upon first drive after visit), this represents a serious safety hazard. Fortunately, in my example, I was in a low-traffic scenario where the momentary loss, while panic inducing, did not cause me to impede traffic. However, if the road had been busier, my sudden and unexpected deceleration could have easily caused an accident. I feel very strongly that I am lucky nothing happened to me, and I also feel that the nonchalant responses from the dealer AND VW's corporate Instagram help chat were alarming and inappropriate.