Nobody likes to tell people bad news. So, sometimes companies give the bad news out on a day that many people won’t be paying attention. Like, say, yesterday, which happened to be the day before Thanksgiving. In this case, the bad news is that Jeep’s Wrangler 4xe plugin hybrid is facing a recall for danger of fire.
Stellantis (Jeep’s parent company that used to be Fiat-Chrysler) says that during a routine review of customer data, they found that eight of the vehicles (out of over 32,000) had caught fire. So, to be proactive, the company launched an investigation. It turned out that all of the vehicles were parked and turned off when the fire started, and six of the eight were charging.
Most importantly, though, nobody is known to have been hurt in any of these fires.
If you own any Jeep Wrangler 4xe, Stellantis says your vehicle is safe to drive. But, Jeep’s engineers recommend that you don’t charge the battery or plug it in while the investigation continues and they work toward a recall. Fortunately, it’s a PHEV, so you’re still able to safely drive it as a hybrid for now. They also recommend parking it away from other vehicles and away from any buildings or structures until you can get the vehicle in for a recall remedy.
Further information about the recall is not available yet, but if you’re a Wrangler 4xe owner, Jeep will reach out to let you know when the recall procedure is ready to go at a local Jeep dealer. The good news is that for most customers, the vehicle will be inspected at a dealer and checked for a specific error code that indicates there’s a defect in the battery pack. If your vehicle is one of the ones with the defect, it’ll get a replacement pack.
The other great news is that Jeep estimates that only about 1% of the vehicles actually pose any kind of fire danger due to the defect Jeep’s engineers found. For everyone else, the recall will simply be a software update.
Don’t Panic
It’s important to keep in mind that EVs are far less likely than a gas-powered vehicle to catch fire, and that this appears to be an issue with battery charging, so the same applies here. When you consider that 1% of 32,000 vehicles is 320, and that out of that estimated 320 vehicles, only 8 have actually caught fire, the risk to any given Jeep Wrangler 4xe owner is astronomical. You’re literally more likely to choke on your Thanksgiving leftovers and die than to have a fire.
So, if you’re a parking structure owner, please don’t switch to Microsoft Word and make a poorly-spelled and badly-punctuated 8.5×11″ sign telling people to not park their Jeeps on your lot. If you actually read this far, you already know that only charging Wrangler 4xe vehicles pose any kind of risk, and that the gas cars on the lot are more likely to go up.
If you’re a panicky and dumb person and want to do it anyway, at least hire a graphic designer and a proofreader first.
Featured image by Jennifer Sensiba.