Audi recalls 9,048 Q4 e-trons as VW’s battery fire problem spreads

Audi is recalling 9,048 Q4 e-tron and Q4 Sportback e-tron SUVs in the US because their batteries could catch fire above 80% charge, an NHTSA filing shows. The cells come from SK On’s plant in Hungary. It follows VW’s recall of 22,524 ID.4s over the same risk this month.

Audi is recalling 9,048 Q4 e-tron and Q4 Sportback e-tron SUVs in the US because their batteries could catch fire. The recall notice, filed with US safety regulator NHTSA, was reported by InsideEVs. Until a fix is ready, some owners are being told to charge to no more than 80%.

The recall covers 2024 and 2025 models built between late 2023 and April 2025. Audi said certain charging patterns, combined with a charge above 80%, may cause “thermal propagation”, where heat spreads from cell to cell inside the battery. That is how EV batteries catch fire.

Audi said it knows of no fires, crashes or injuries linked to the problem, and it thinks only about 0.1% of the cars have the defect. It does not yet know the root cause. By contrast, Lucid’s August recall of 27,185 Air sedans listed three fires.

The cells come from SK Battery Manufacturing in Komárom, Hungary, part of South Korea’s SK On. Audi started looking into the problem after Volkswagen found thermal runaway in some of its own batteries of the same type.

The Q4 e-tron is built on the same platform as the Volkswagen ID.4. On 9 October, VW recalled 22,524 ID.4s in the US over the same risk above 80% charge, electrive reported, with cells from SK Battery America. A week later, VW said it would cap charging at 80% on some ID.3, ID.4, ID.7 and ID. Buzz cars in Europe and the UK.

Audi has already checked the cars’ battery data. Owners whose data is missing or shows a need for more checks should keep charging to 80% and take the car to a dealer for a battery test.

Audi will write to owners by 18 December, and a final fix is still being worked out. The recall adds to a hard year for VW’s batteries, after its battery arm PowerCo delayed its Canadian plant to 2029.