Autoblog and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article.The ID's Ego Was BigOh, how the mighty have fallen. Well, maybe the word "mighty" doesn't exactly capture the ID.4's attempt to capture the car buying public's attention, except for a brief period. Volkswagen will end U.S. production of the ID.4 after the 2026 model year, closing a disappointing chapter for the electric crossover that was supposed to bring the brand's EV ambitions to the American mainstream. VW planned for the ID.4 (and the rest of the ID lineup) to be big, really big.The ID.4 seeming had the right stuff. It combined familiar SUV proportions, competitive range, available all-wheel drive, a comparatively attainable $40k starting price, and production in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In reality, it became a case study in how crappy software, anonymous styling, poor execution, and a rapidly changing EV market can undermine a generally good EV. Buyer should have flocked to it, but that's not what happened. Here's what happened in the story of the mediocre rise and abysmal fall of the ID.4.A Terrible User ExperienceVolkswagenThe original ID.4's biggest problem was that using it daily sucked. I mean it. The first time I got inside, I was baffled by the interface and the climate/audio controls. Volkswagen adopted a cabin philosophy that looked clean and minimalist, but it was painfully frustrating to operate. Instead of traditional knobs for climate and audio, VW introduced sliders that didn't even have words on the panel. No, they were not physical sliders but touch operated and about as precise as using a footlong hot dog as an arrow.VWThe touchscreen-controlled climate functions required extra attention. The touch-sensitive haptic feedback steering-wheel controls were easy to activate accidentally while driving. You had to look at everything and take your eyes of the wheel to operate the most basic functions. They crapped on muscle memory. The window switches were especially infamous: rather than provide four dedicated controls, Volkswagen used two switches and a "rear" touch button to toggle their function. It was the answer to a question nobody asked.John Beltz SnyderAdvertisementAdvertisementMore damaging was the infotainment software. It had a tendency to be glitchy, slow, and was certainly not intuitive to use. Menu diving was the order of the day, and climate controls often required you to go two layers deep just to make minor changes. Competitors simply did it better. EVs from Hyundai, Chevy, and the juggernaut, Tesla, simply did it better. Critics took notice, as did owners. What should've been a pioneering EV turned into a user nightmare.It Looked Like a Lozenge on WheelsVolkswagenThe ID.4 wasn't a bad looking EV. It just didn't wow anyone. It seemed like VW was out to please everyone and ended up with an overly vanilla design. Volkswagen wanted an EV that looked approachable, not daring. Smooth, not arresting. The result? A fresh dose of ho-hum-ness.VWIt was neither conventionally handsome like a Volkswagen Tiguan nor visually dramatic like a retro-licious Hyundai Ioniq 5 or a racy Kia EV6. The VW ID.4 made it look like you had to settle for an EV rather than choose one you really liked. Every time I see one going down the road, it makes me want to fall asleep. For many shoppers, the ID.4 was an anonymous compact electric SUV in a segment where competitors were more exciting to look at and more distinct. That is a difficult position for a vehicle tasked with introducing buyers to its brand spanking-new EV lineup.Thinking about selling your car? Get an instant cash offer online now. Click here to get started.Charging and Recall FoiblesGettyCar owners have a hard enough time making the transition from gas to electric. Charging should not be this difficult. Volkswagen's partnership with Electrify America should have been a huge advantage. The network gave ID.4 buyers access to a broad fast-charging network and, for a time, generous complimentary charging offers. But Electrify America's reliability reputation was lousy. Broken stalls, inconsistent charging sessions, crowded sites, and confusing payment experiences made charging frustrating.VWAdvertisementAdvertisementThen came recalls and production interruptions. A major 2024 stop-sale related to potentially faulty door handles was especially harmful because it affected inventory just as the market was becoming more price-sensitive and competitive. Then there was the high-voltage battery fire risk for 2023-2025 models. For a vehicle already struggling to establish trust, quality-related disruptions reinforced the perception that Volkswagen's EV plan lacked polish.Volkswagen Misread the MarketThe ID.4 entered a market where Tesla had already established itself in the minds of buyers of what an electric crossover should be, while legacy competitors were moving forward quickly with competitive products. Volkswagen initially positioned the ID.4 as a practical, reasonably priced alternative, but the economics became harder as EV incentives shifted or disappeared, lease deals became more relevant, and competitors discounted their products aggressively. On a bigger scale, VW's modular electric drive matrix (MEB) platform strategy and multi-billion-dollar electric vehicle rollout took huge hits with the demise of the ID.4, and VW has to get its act together as it plans to redo the ID.4 as the ID. Tiguan.2027 Volkswagen ID. TiguanSH Proshots/AutoblogVolkswagen wanted the ID.4 to lead its EV product line, but a lot of its journey felt like a knee-jerk reaction to market changes and competitor moves. It was the wrong product with the wrong charging infrastructure, the wrong design, and the wrong tech at the wrong time. The brand needed a sharper value proposition, faster product updates, simpler software, a more reliable charging network, and a more exciting design. None of that happened, and the rest is history.Final ThoughtsThe ID.4's exit after 2026 is due to numerous factors, but it's one of the biggest model failures in recent memory. It needs to flesh out its EV product and plan better. It also means the company needs to relearn a lesson it once mastered with proven models like the GTI, Tiguan, and the historic original Beetle. Real mainstream success comes from making complicated engineering feel user-friendly, approachable, attractive, and easy to operate. The ID.4 had the engineering. Volkswagen just never made the ownership experience feel finished.AdvertisementAdvertisementThis story was originally published by Autoblog on Sep 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the Features section. Add Autoblog as a Preferred Source by clicking here.