Jeep owners should park outside while waiting for the recall to be fixed, NHTSA says

The US 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 recall repairs are completed.

Jeep parent Stellantis said Monday 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 two injuries have been reported so far that may be related to the recall issue.

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The affected vehicles were built with a high-voltage battery that can fail internally, NHTSA said. Stellantis said the battery was manufactured by Samsung SDI 006400.KS. Samsung SDI told Stellantis in August that the most likely root cause of the problem is “separator damage combined with other complex interactions within the cell,” according to Stellantis’ NHTSA filing.

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

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

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

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

The new recall includes some 2020 to 2024 Jeep Wrangler models and 2022 to 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee plug-in hybrids.

Parent company Chrysler said the fires started when the vehicles were parked and turned off. It is estimated that 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 Shepardson; Editing by Franklin Paul and Mark Potter)