Volkswagen Sued Over Claims Haptic Controls Cause Unintended Acceleration

Haptic Controls: A Love-Hate Affair

Over the last couple of years, several automakers have declared war on the good ol’ button. We’re seeing more cars with basic functions being moved to the touchscreen, along with smooth haptic controls on the steering wheel and other control panels.

Some continue to insist on moving to a glass cockpit, while others stick to tradition. At the same time, some of those who went for haptic controls are reverting to using buttons inside again.

One of them is Volkswagen, which has vowed to bring back more buttons inside cars following criticism. It has even admitted that touch-based controls were a mistake.

A Case Against It — Literally

But there goes the rub. A class-action suit has been filed against Volkswagen, alleging that its haptic touch controls cause unintended acceleration. Two plaintiffs from Connecticut said their Volkswagen ID.4 began accelerating without pedal input and blamed the touch controls on the EV’s steering wheel.

Per Car Complaints, a “light brush with one’s fingers or touch of the hand with low pressure over the controls on the wheel is enough to make the vehicle’s system reengage to its last set speed on cruise control.”

VW’s Legal Department Responds

Of course, Volkswagen’s legal department isn’t taking this sitting down. The company has reportedly said that the unintended acceleration incidents were due to drivers pressing the accelerator, not the light brushes against the haptic pads.

VW added that the suit “consists primarily of vague and conclusory allegations that lack the essential pleaded facts required to establish Plaintiffs’ claims. In addition, while each Plaintiff claims to have experienced an incident allegedly attributed to the steering wheel ACC controls, they have not pled facts establishing that any such incidents were caused by those controls, much less by a defect, and no Plaintiff claims that any dealer ever diagnosed a problem with his/her vehicle’s ACC controls.”

With that, Volkswagen is moving to have the case dismissed. As for the ID.4, the new one will get more physical controls to replace the haptic controls that led to this suit in the first place.