Volkswagen has initiated a recall of more than 60,000 electric vehicles in the United States following the discovery of a software issue that prevents proper gear position display.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced the recall on Saturday, which affects 60,490 electric vehicles across the Volkswagen and Audi brands.
The recall stems from a software glitch in the brake control unit that can prevent the neutral gear position from being displayed correctly in the instrument cluster. While this might seem minor, the inability to identify the current gear position significantly increases the risk of vehicle rollaway accidents if drivers fail to engage the parking brake.
The affected vehicles include certain 2021-2023 Volkswagen ID.4 as well as 2022-2023 Audi Q4 e-Tron and Q4 Sportback e-Tron vehicles, the NHTSA said.
The issue first came to light in August after five cases were reported outside the United States. The NHTSA has emphasized the importance of promptly addressing such safety concerns.
Volkswagen is currently working to notify all affected vehicle owners. In the meantime, the company strongly recommends that drivers ensure their parking brakes are fully engaged until they can have their vehicles serviced to correct the software issue.
