Stellantis is no stranger to vehicle recalls, having issued several this year across various models. The trend continues with the latest recall announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which affects more than 154,000 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4Xe and Wrangler 4Xe vehicles.
The recall impacts plug-in-hybrid Grand Cherokee and Wrangler models from 2020-2024, which are at risk of catching fire whether parked or in operation.
The NHTSA advises owners to park their SUVs outdoors to prevent any potential fire from spreading to their homes and recommends that owners refrain from charging their vehicles until repairs are made.
Specifically, the recall affects 118,230 Jeep Wrangler 4Xe models and 35,802 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4Xe units. NHTSA reports that a high-voltage battery issue in these SUVs could lead to failure, and there have already been two injuries linked to the defect.
To resolve the problem, Jeep will need to update the battery pack control module software, and in some cases, replace the battery entirely.
NHTSA began investigating this issue in September, examining 781,459 Jeep vehicles after its Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) received nine reports of fires and one injury report. Most of the incidents occurred in vehicles with relatively low mileage.
This marks the second recall for the Wrangler plug-in hybrid in the past year. In November of last year, over 45,000 Wrangler 4Xe models were recalled due to fire risks.
This latest recall follows a series of others, including Ram’s recall of 1.2 million trucks for stability control problems last month, and Jeep’s recall in August for faulty airbag sensors in 2019 Cherokee models. As of August, Stellantis has been averaging around 1.28 recalls per week.