320,000 Jeeps recalled due to fire hazard

Chrysler is recalling thousands of hybrid Jeeps after some of these vehicles caught fire. Some had already been in the workshop for this problem.

The recall applies to Jeep Wrangler 4xe models from model years 2020 to 2025 and Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe models from model years 2022 to 2026. These vehicles could catch fire, the US traffic authority, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), announced. 19 cases are known so far. A total of over 320,000 vehicles are affected: 228,221 Jeep Wranglers and 91,844 Jeep Grand Cherokees.

The reason for the fires lies in the batteries supplied by the South Korean manufacturer Samsung SDI: the batteries could contain damaged separators that would have triggered the fires, the NHTSA announced.

Recall in 2024

Jeep's parent company, Chrysler, had already recalled around 154,000 plug-in hybrid Jeeps for this reason last year. New software was then installed in the vehicles. However, the defect was apparently not permanently resolved: nine of the current fires broke out in vehicles with the new software.

There is no solution to the problem yet. Chrysler advises owners not to charge the batteries, as the fire risk is greater with a fully charged battery than with an empty one. Furthermore, the vehicles should not be parked near structures or other vehicles that could also catch fire in the event of a fire.

Owners of plug-in hybrid Jeeps are currently out of luck: a faulty software update recently disabled them, a faulty software update.

(wpl)