Jeep owners should park outside pending recall fix, US agency says

1:06 pm Tuesday, October 01st, 2024

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said owners of 154,000 Jeep plug-in hybrid electric SUVs should park outside and away from buildings or other vehicles until they get recall repairs completed.

Jeep-parent Stellantis on Monday said it was recalling 194,000 Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee plug-in hybrids worldwide – including 154,000 in the United States – after reports of 13 fires. NHTSA said there have been two injuries reported to date that may be tied to the recall issue.

The affected vehicles were built with a high voltage battery that may fail internally, NHTSA said. Stellantis said the battery pack was produced by Samsung SDI. Samsung SDI told Stellantis in August the most likely root cause of the issue is “separator damage combined with other complex interactions within the cell,” according to Stellantis’ NHTSA filing.

The recall follows a 2023 callback of 32,000 Jeep Wrangler plug-in hybrids for a software update. Stellantis said some vehicles experienced fires in the summer of 2024 that had received the 2023 recall software update.

Stellantis said it determined the 2023 recall remedy “is ineffective at detecting certain abnormalities” within the battery that could lead to a fire.

Stellantis’ recall remedy is a software reflash followed by a battery replacement if needed and it will notify owners in mid-October, it said.

The company said vehicle risk is reduced when the battery charge level is depleted and said owners are advised to refrain from recharging. The company said a remedy is imminent.

The new recall includes some 2020 through 2024 model year Jeep Wranglers and 2022 through 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee plug-in hybrids.

The Chrysler-parent company said the fires occurred when the vehicles were parked and turned off. It estimates 5% of affected vehicles may have the defect.  

The recall includes 154,000 vehicles in the United States, 14,000 in Canada, 700 in Mexico and nearly 26,000 outside North America.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Franklin Paul and Mark Potter)