A British family has been left traumatised and vowing to shun electric vehicles after their state-of-the-art Volkswagen allegedly lost control on a busy motorway on two separate occasions within three months.
A Terrifying Ordeal on the Motorway
Ken Hadley, 51, claims his life was put at risk in late October when his Volkswagen ID.5 suddenly began swerving violently on a motorway. The father-of-two described travelling at just 40mph when, without warning, the car veered across all three lanes into the left-hand reservation, before swinging back across the carriageway into the right-hand reservation.
"The car started swerving all over the place," Mr Hadley recounted. "It slammed me into the left-hand reservation, lifted the car, dragged me across all the lanes, smacked me into the right-hand reservation." He reported seeing a flashing red warning light on the dashboard and feeling as though "all four wheels started operating independently". Control was only regained after an impact turned the warning light off.
A Chilling Repeat Incident and Legal Echoes
This harrowing event was shockingly familiar. Just three months earlier, in July, Mr Hadley's wife was driving the same ID.5 with their disabled daughter and father-in-law as passengers when she experienced the exact same loss of control on a motorway. The incident was so frightening that she threw the keys on the floor and refused to ever drive the car again.
The case bears unsettling similarities to a high-profile trial at the Old Bailey which concluded recently. In that case, Ashenafei Demissie was cleared of causing death and serious injury by careless driving after his Volkswagen ID.4 suddenly accelerated, killing five-year-old Fareed Amir in November 2022. Mr Hadley's ID.5 is almost identical to the older ID.4 and both cars use the same software. Mr Hadley has since been in contact with solicitors working on that case.
Frustration and a Search for Answers
In the aftermath of the October incident, Mr Hadley managed to crawl the car to his local dealership, Johnsons Redditch, in what he called one of the tensest drives of his life. The situation quickly turned sour when the dealership later emailed to ask if he had remapped or retuned the car, implying driver fault which would void the warranty.
Mr Hadley challenged this and claims it was then revealed a software update performed at the garage in January 2025 had shown a fault code that was never passed to him or the service team. Despite efforts, neither he nor the dealership could ascertain what this code meant. Volkswagen later replaced the car's steering rack in December and attempted to return the vehicle to him, despite no definitive cause being identified for the incidents.
His insurance company has advised him not to drive the ID.5 again. After a protracted complaint process, Volkswagen Financial Services, which leases him the vehicle, has now offered to surrender the remaining 14 months of his lease and provide a cash rebate as a goodwill gesture.
"I will never drive an electric car again after this," Mr Hadley stated emphatically. His primary concern is no longer financial compensation, but public safety. "My biggest worry is if they sell that car and it kills somebody... I'm 100 per cent sure whatever happened to us hasn't been identified and fixed correctly."
A Volkswagen spokesperson stated that the vehicle was inspected and no fault was found or replicated. The original steering rack was sent to Germany for detailed examination, where no defect was found that could cause steering lock. The spokesperson added, "We are unaware of any other similar incidents." The offer to cancel Mr Hadley's finance contract remains on the table.
