If you drive an Audi electric SUV and charge it the way most people charge any EV — plug it in, let it fill up most of the way — Audi now says that habit could be a fire risk on certain models. More than 9,000 vehicles in the U.S. are affected, and there’s no fix yet.
What’s actually being recalled
Audi is recalling 9,048 Q4 e-tron and Q4 Sportback e-tron electric SUVs in the United States, model years 2024 and 2025, according to Volkswagen Group of America’s filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, campaign number 26V698. Worldwide, the recall covers 12,734 vehicles, including one in Germany.
Volkswagen Group of America notified NHTSA on October 23; the recall was added to VW Group’s own German database on October 27 and reported the following day, per Electrek and cross-checked against InsideEVs‘ own reporting.
What’s actually wrong with these vehicles
Per VW’s own NHTSA filing, “certain charging profiles combined with a state of charge over 80% may trigger thermal propagation” in the battery. In plain terms: charging the vehicle the way most owners normally would — plugging in and letting it go past 80% — can, under certain conditions, start a chain reaction inside the battery that leads to a fire.
The root cause is still under investigation. Audi says it isn’t aware of any crashes, fires, injuries, or deaths tied to this issue so far.
Why there’s no fix yet
There’s no repair available right now. In the meantime, owners are being told to limit charging to 80% as a precaution — essentially avoiding the exact charging behavior the investigation flagged as risky, until Audi has an actual remedy.
Interim notification letters, the ones that explain the situation and the 80% guidance directly to affected owners, are expected by December 18.
This is part of a bigger Volkswagen Group recall
These Audi models share their battery and production characteristics with several other Volkswagen Group EVs now caught up in the same underlying issue — the VW ID. Buzz, ID.3, ID.4, and ID.7, along with the Cupra Born. Combined, the recall now covers 85,402 vehicles worldwide.
That scale matters: this isn’t an isolated defect in one model, it’s a shared battery and production issue running across an entire platform of vehicles from the same manufacturing family.
What to do if you own one of these vehicles
If you own a 2024 or 2025 Audi Q4 e-tron or Q4 Sportback e-tron, the practical step right now is charging to 80% and no further, until Audi sends the formal notification and, eventually, an actual remedy. You can also check your vehicle’s recall status directly through NHTSA’s own VIN lookup tool rather than waiting on a letter to confirm whether your specific vehicle is affected.
The bottom line
More than 9,000 Audi EV owners in the U.S. are being told their batteries can overheat and catch fire under normal charging habits, with no fix available yet — just a workaround. If you’re one of them, 80% is the number to remember until Audi says otherwise.