UPDATE: Jeep® Wrangler 4xe Risk Of Battery Fire Recall

NHTSA Shed Light On Situation, Defect Has Not Been Identified...

Robert S. Miller December 6, 2023

2023 Jeep® Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 4xe. (Jeep).

A week ago, we saw Stellantis (FCA US, LLC) issue a recall for a risk of a battery pack fire for the 2021 to 2023 Jeep® Wrangler Unlimited 4xe (JL) plug-in hybrid (PHEV). However, we are now learning more details about those 32,125 vehicles in the United States, an estimated 3,856 in Canada, and 9,249 outside North America, thanks to documents sent from FCA US, LLC to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

2023 Jeep® Wrangler Sahara High Altitude 4xe. (Jeep).

According to the documents, some 2021 to 2023 Jeep Wrangler 4xe PHEVs may have a high-voltage (HV) battery that may fail internally. The defect has not been identified, and the root cause is still being investigated. Samsung SDI is the manufacturer of the battery.

The suspect period began on September 18th, 2020, when production of the Jeep Wrangler 4xe with battery cells manufactured from January 21st, 2021, through October 2nd, 2021, began and ended on March 22nd, 2023, when production of the vehicles built with battery cells manufactured from January 21st, 2021, through October 2nd, 2021, finished. The suspect population was determined using the supplier manufacturing records of HV batteries with cells manufactured from January 21st, 2021, through October 2nd, 2021.

Samsung SDI PHEV 2 Battery Cells in the Wrangler Unlimited 4xe. (Jeep).

Recall Chronology –

On May 12, 2023, the FCA US LLC (“FCA US”) Technical Safety and Regulatory Compliance (“TSRC”) organization opened an investigation after receiving two field reports of 2021 MY Jeep Wrangler PHEVs with fires originating from the HV battery.

In May 2023, FCA US requested buybacks of both vehicles for further analysis.

From May 2023 to September 2023, FCA US received five additional reports of 2021-2022 MY Jeep Wrangler PHEVs with fires originating from the HV battery. We requested buybacks of these vehicles for further analysis.
In October 2023, FCA US received two vehicle buybacks and disassembled the HV battery packs. The modules and cells are undergoing additional analysis.

As of November 9, 2023, FCA US is aware of zero customer assistance records, zero warranty claims, and eight field reports potentially relating to this issue for all markets, with receipt dates ranging from April 6, 2023, to November 02, 2023.

As of November 9, 2023, FCA US is unaware of any accidents or injuries potentially relating to this issue for all markets.

On November 16, 2023, FCA US determined, through the Vehicle Regulations Committee, to conduct a voluntary safety recall of the affected vehicles.

Owners are advised not to recharge their vehicles and to park outside and away from structures until they are repaired. Dealers will update the high voltage battery pack software and replace the battery pack assembly, if necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on January 11th, 2024. Owners may contact FCA US, LLC customer service at 1-800-853-1403. FCA US, LLC’s number for this recall is 89A.

2023 Jeep® Wrangler Unlimited Willys 4xe. (Jeep).

Owners may also contact the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153) or visit www.nhtsa.gov.

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M Mike201 Dec 06, 2023 #1

Easiest answer to end these battery fires in these electric cars. Don’t make them. Stick with ICE vehicles!!!

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bill burke Dec 06, 2023 #2

This latest confidence builder for electric vehicles has arrived just at the right time, thanks Jeep, as the global community awakens to the environmentalist hoax and the rejection rate for electric vehicles is growing by the minute. Yes sir, great timing Jeep or should we say.....another nail in the coffin?

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patfromigh Dec 07, 2023 #3

You people do know the Wrangler 4Xe is a hybrid, right? Hybrids are the hottest (bad choice of words, sorry) items on the market. The number of Jeep fires for this recall is tiny and it looks like they found a fix. How many other hybrids are on the road without having problems? While pure battery electric vehicles collect dust on dealers' lots, there are months-long waiting lists for new hybrids. The top selling sedan in the US market, the Toyota Camry, will only be available as a hybrid next spring. Toyota and Honda are massively increasing their manufacturing and marketing of hybrids. Is it wrong for Stellantis to join this party?

The thirteen states which adopted the CARB mandates have close to half of the US population. The zero emissions mandates still stand, and the federal EPA is demanding 50% of passenger vehicles sold to be battery electric. Auto dealers are angry enough with the EV push to send a letter to the White House with nearly 4,000 dealers signing on. They are the monkey in the middle who are being forced to sell something people don't want. The countries who are saying enough to this socialist dystopia are mostly in Eastern Europe. They have had recent experience with Marxism. We in the United States are new to this authoritarian regime game and will put up with it much longer.

Even if the zero emissions mandates disappeared overnight, we as a country will still have to deal with our inadequate energy grid and generating capacity, along with resource management and security challenges. A military contractor recognized the future strategic energy resource dilemma over sixty years ago and initiated research into electric hybrid vehicles. We need to conserve. The current environmental hoax is only to enrich the coffers of a certain Asian country with a tight grip on the world's lithium supply. They have a lot of our elite institutions in their pocket, such as the media, politicians and research universities.

If the United States is ever to be truly independent again we must develop and conserve our energy resources. It will require many solutions, there is no one panacea. Hybrids and plugin hybrids are some of those solutions. Even fully battery electric vehicles will be part of our future, but not in a one size fits all package.

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