Whenever your new vehicle starts attacking you with error messages and warnings, you aren’t likely to be glad about it. The Volkswagen ID series of EVs doesn’t seem to be completely faulty and problematic, but sometimes, these vehicles can really surprise you with various problems that you just don’t know how to solve.
If your Volkswagen EV says “Warnings and Information not Available. Drive with Greater Care!”, the software of the trip computer is not working properly. It means you will most likely need to go to the dealership and have the software updated. If this doesn’t help, you may need the computer to be replaced with a new one.
Here’s what I will cover in this article:
- What does the “Warnings and Information not Available” message mean?
- Why exactly does this message appear on your dash?
- What are the solutions to this problem?
- Can you still drive your VW EV if it says there are no warnings and information?
What happens when this message pops up in your Volkswagen?
Although Volkswagen has never officially acknowledged that the failing trip computer and the warning about no information on the dash are common, this is actually the issue that occurs very often. In 2020-2021, when the ID4 SUVs only started selling, owners reported thousands of such issues. Even NHTSA in the US started an investigation because of this failure.
This was usual for the 2.0 software version and became much less common for 2.1 and newer versions. I haven’t heard about many problems with the trip computer in the latest 2.4 software update, but I’m pretty sure the issue is still not resolved completely.
So, here’s what happens:
- your dash goes blank and you see the error message “Warnings and Information not Available. Drive with Greater Care!”;
- you can’t observe the speed and the mileage of the vehicle, those meters are blank;
- the infotainment system may or may not work, but in most cases, it functions along with the navigation;
- the issue only touches the dash screen and basically leaves you without the information about your trip;
- also, the problem deactivates several features like cruise control, park assist, and other important things like collision prevention system.
This is a global problem in the trip computer that basically leaves you with the steering wheel and pedals to control your vehicle. A very unpleasant thing that you don’t expect to have with your vehicle that is maybe less than 1 year old.
Things get even worse when you understand that you can’t reboot the system. This is an EV and you won’t succeed if you just disconnect the 12V battery like you would do in ta ICE-powered car. So, this may be quite challenging to not start panicking when this happens. But later in this article, I will offer you a couple of ways to deal with the problem.
What are the reasons for this error message?
No one can tell you for sure about the reasons, but after talking to several trained Volkswagen EV mechanics and also researching the forums, I can come up with several possible culprits of this issue.
Here they are:
- Too quick starting after turning the vehicle on. The trip computer needs some time to boot correctly and if it gets attacked by different readings of different sensors, it may develop a glitch and send you random error messages.
- Something is interfering with the signal. Your EV has very tender electronics that often communicated with different sensors and units wirelessly. If you have something like a mobile signal antenna or another strong signal source around, the car may show an error message to you.
- Software glitch. If you still have the old 2.0 software version in your ID3 or ID4, you should immediately go to the dealership and install an update. This will probably fix all serious software issues.
- Trip computer problem. In early Volkswagen ID-series EVs, trip computers may have developed some faults. If you go to the dealership within the warranty period, they will most likely install the new computer to solve the problem.
While almost all possible culprits are on the end of the vehicle, there is one thing that depends purely on you. This is the way you start driving. Once you turn on the vehicle, all the computers and control units in it start booting. It will take several seconds. If you start driving before all the computers are successfully booted, they may malfunction and need restarting to function properly.
Here’s how you should start driving your EV:
- get into the vehicle and fasten your seat belt;
- turn on the car by pressing the power button;
- wait till all the screens are booted and you see all the needed readings;
- once the car is ready to go, you may start driving.
If something is missed in this sequence, you may have constant errors and warnings in your vehicle. The “Warnings and Information not Available” is one of the possible warnings that can pop up, in this case.
How can you fix this problem?
Sorry that I had to write so many words before explaining to you how to fix the issue. But without this, you wouldn’t know so much about your ID vehicle and its possible flaws.
So, I actually see four possible ways to solve the problem:
- Reboot the system. You don’t have any reboot button in the new Volkswagen EV, so you just need to get out of the car, lock the doors and leave it alone for about 10-15 minutes. After you get into it, press the power button and wait till everything is booted properly.
- Turn the vehicle off and on. Before you do that, stop on the right side of the road and turn on the emergency light, so that other drivers could see you are having a problem and wouldn’t cause any kind of accident.
- Update the software. You can’t do this on your own. You will have to go to the dealership for this. Ask the mechanic to update the software to the latest version and then test-drive the vehicle to make sure everything is fine.
- Replace the computer. If nothing helps, the only way to solve the problem that is known to humanity right now is to replace the Volkswagen EV computer with the new one. If the car is still under warranty, this will be free for you.
Alternatively, you may ignore the problem and it should bother you just sometimes. But some Volkswagen mechanics say that the problem may escalate quickly and may leave you stranded if it affects the control unit heavily. So, I still recommend solving this problem as soon as possible.
Actually, this is not a serious problem. I’ve already written about one of the common Tesla problems here, and that issue is much harder to solve.
Can you drive with this error message?
Whenever you see that the Volkswagen EV doesn’t show you any warning notifications and information, and also the majority of its road assistance systems are not working, the main function of the vehicle is still good. It means you can still drive. The bad idea is that you will not even see the current speed and can easily get hooked by one of the speed cameras.
So, you will have to follow several rules if you still want to drive after you see this message:
- lower the speed so that you could get through the cameras without any fines;
- control the distance to other vehicles – your Volkswagen will not brake automatically to avoid collision now;
- find a good and big parking space because the park assist will not be working either;
- better use some of the tips given above in this article and spend 10-15 minutes to get all the functions back.
Although you can drive the ID vehicle after all the information is gone from the trip display, it’s not recommended. It’s not that hard to try and reboot the system and you should certainly give it a go.
Also, if nothing works, you should make an appointment with the nearest VW dealership and have the car inspected thoroughly. In most cases, the free software update may solve the problem.
Will the problem disappear on its own?
Unfortunately, this problem will not disappear if not addressed properly. It may torture you for several days or just once a week but it will still reappear sometimes and spoil your experience with the great VW vehicle. So, you shouldn’t hope that the issue will self-cure and you don’t need to visit the dealer.
To wrap up
Seeing the “Warnings and Information not Available” error message in your VW EV is not really a pleasant thing. But there is nothing so bad in it and you can solve the problem just by adjusting your driving style or updating the software. In some cases, the computer will need to be replaced.
This may be pretty painful to repair if the Volkswagen is not under warranty anymore. The new computer may cost you a fortune, so you better try all other methods before you agree to have the computer replaced by the dealer. By the way, if you are missing the ICE or hybrid vehicles, read about the 1.5 eTSI problems in Volkswagen cars in one of my recetn articles.
