A single father says his leased Volkswagen ID4 electric car repeatedly malfunctioned, accelerating on its own and locking his children inside, in incidents he believes could have killed his family. Matt Hinton, 52, endured a three-year dispute with leasing company LeasePlan (now Ayvens) after the vehicle developed a string of serious faults, with the firm allegedly refusing to replace the car despite the danger involved.

Hinton, a global director for a life sciences company, leased the ID4 in 2022 through a near-£1,000-a-month salary sacrifice scheme. Problems began with a frayed seatbelt and doors that would not open properly, before escalating to a crashing dashboard, failed collision-avoidance and lane-detection sensors, and episodes where the car lost all control of its pedals, forcing him to roll to a stop. In one frightening case with his children in the car, he had to bring it to a safe halt before it reset itself; separately, the vehicle repeatedly misread speed-limit signs and accelerated unexpectedly to 70mph, and its regenerative braking triggered suddenly on the motorway. The car was reportedly off the road for more than a third of the lease period, and Hinton's employer ultimately paid over £13,000 to end the arrangement.