It covers 45,000 vehicles
Stellantis is recalling more than 45,000 Jeep Wrangler 4xe hybrid SUVs worldwide because the high-voltage battery pack may catch fire.
The company released a statement saying regular checks of customer data led to an internal investigation that resulted in the discovery of eight vehicle fires. All were parked and turned off, and six were plugged into chargers.
The recall affects 32,125 model year 2021-2024 Jeep Wrangler 4xe vehicles in the United States, 3,856 in Canada, and 9,249 outside North America. Stellantis says the affected vehicles can be driven, but advises owners to “refrain from charging these hybrid vehicles and park them away from structures and other vehicles until the problems are resolved.”
The fix involves flashing the software, but if a certain error code is detected, the entire battery pack will be replaced. The American automaker estimates that one percent of affected vehicles may have this defect. Customers will be contacted and informed when they can schedule their service appointment.
Even unstarted best-selling Jeep Wrangler 4xe lights up.
Introduced in late 2020, the Jeep Wrangler 4xe is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four engine paired with a motor generator integrated into an eight-speed automatic transmission. The hybrid system produces a total output of 375 horsepower, and the high-voltage battery that powers the electric motor inside the transmission has a capacity of 17 kWh, which is enough to give the all-electric vehicle a range of 21 miles on a full charge.
In the third quarter of this year, the Wrangler 4xe became the best-selling hybrid passenger car in the United States, with 17,662 units sold. By comparison, Toyota and Lexus combined managed to sell just 12,678 PHEVs in the US in the third quarter.
