Jeep Tells 320,000 PHEV Owners To Park Outside Due To Fire Risk

2025 Jeep Wrangler 4xeJeep

Sign in to your TopSpeed account

Jeep has issued a massive recall for certain Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrid models over a risk their battery packs may catch fire while parked or driven. The company is advising all owners affected by the recall to park their Jeeps outside and away from any structures until they’ve been fixed. They should also refrain from charging their vehicles, as the risk of fire is greater with a fully charged battery.

The recall affects 228,221 model year 2020-2025 Jeep Wrangler 4xe models and 91,844 model year 2022-2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe models. The total number of vehicles recalled, meanwhile, is 320,065. Stellantis, Jeep’s parent company, is aware of 19 fires that have occurred so far, and, unfortunately, one person has suffered injuries due to the defect.

What’s Going On With These Jeep’s Catching Fire?

Limited Edition. 2025 Jeep Wrangler 4xe Backcountry. Front, three-quartersStellantis

Jeep was aware of the risk its PHEV batteries could catch fire and had already issued one recall to address the problem back in September 2024. Its fix was an update for the high-voltage battery pack software that was applied free of charge by dealers. Apparently, the software patch didn’t work, as nine of the 19 reported fires in this most recent recall happened to vehicles that had already received it.

Stellantis says that the problem starts with the cells inside the battery packs, some of which have “separator damage.” Lithium is flammable in air, so if a battery cell is damaged to the point its contents are exposed to air, fire is the usual outcome. We’ve all seen videos of batteries in laptops and cellphones spontaneously combusting – the same thing is happening here.

The bad news for owners of these 4xe models is that there is no fix yet. Since a software remedy has already been tried and failed, Stellantis may have to pay to replace every single battery pack that could be affected, which would be an enormous expense.

General Motors went through something similar when it was forced to replace the battery packs in every Chevrolet Bolt from model years 2017-2022 and all model year 2022 Bolt EUVs due to fire risk. Just like Stellantis, the automaker first tried a software update but was eventually forced to pay to replace tens of thousands of battery packs with new ones. That generation of the Bolt was discontinued shortly thereafter.

TopSpeed’s Take

2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe Hybrid Red Side ShotStellantis

This is not good. The Jeep Wrangler 4xe is the best-selling plug-in hybrid vehicle in the U.S., and the Grand Cherokee 4xe is not far behind. Owners love the added performance of the PHEV powertrain and the fuel economy boost is significant, especially if you’re able to charge every night and take advantage of its 21 miles of all-electric range the next day.

Stellantis, meanwhile, has been pulling away from electrification since CEO Carlos Tavares resigned in December 2024. An expensive recall involving battery replacements will likely further the automaker’s retreat. The upcoming Jeep Gladiator 4xe model has already been axed, and this recall may have been a factor in that decision.

Our hope is that these two 4xe models from Jeep don’t meet a similar fate and find themselves canceled on account of what they’ve cost the company. Aside from this issue, they’ve been a shining example of how a PHEV powertrain can quietly improve every aspect of an already-great vehicle’s performance.

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration