Near the end of 2025, Stellantis pulled the plug on 4xe plug-in hybrid versions of both the Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Grand Cherokee. The automaker had issued recalls for the PHEVs in 2023 and 2024, plus another in November last year, but a remedy for potential battery fires had not been developed, so dealers were instructed to stop selling the SUVs, and both were pulled from Jeep’s website. For those who had already taken delivery of a 4xe Jeep, however, these efforts have not been appreciated, as noted in a new class action lawsuit, reports CarComplaints.com. These plaintiffs are not suing because their vehicles have caught fire, but because their vehicles have been kneecapped for too long.
Jeep Lawsuit Over Battery Fire Recall: Owners Disgruntled
The plaintiffs say that the recall letters received from Chrysler tell them to neither to charge their batteries nor park near anything that may catch fire until the issue is resolved, causing inconvenience and leaving them without a key feature of their vehicles, one which would have been a strong motivator behind the purchase. With multiple recalls, owners have been forced to take their vehicles in for repairs more than once, and these repairs have not been effective, thus leaving owners vulnerable to lithium-ion battery fires. Separately, one Wrangler PHEV owner documented the repair process, which involved a software update that typically takes a couple of hours, followed by a short test drive, but this wasn’t enough to resolve the issue, and his Wrangler 4xe required a new battery.
FCA still claims to be unaware of the root cause of the HV Battery defect other than vague statements regarding separator damage. FCA again admitted that the previous remedy offered in the 2024 recall was ineffective and failed to fix the defect present in the HV Batteries of the Class Vehicles.
FCA hybrid battery lawsuit
The lawsuit claims that the automaker initially avoided recalling 2024 Jeep hybrids to save money, despite knowing the batteries may be dangerous. For the record, the Samsung-supplied batteries may have defects caused by separator damage, which could cause the SUVs to catch fire even when the powertrain is off.
Hundreds of Thousands of Jeep Hybrids Have Been Recalled
Stellantis
Stellantis
The 2024 recall relating to this problem affected over 150,000 vehicles, but the most recent recall names over 320,000 vehicles, which the plaintiffs say means every Jeep Wrangler 4xe vehicle ever built besides 2026 models. Specifically, it names the 2020-2025 Wrangler 4xe and the 2022-2026 Grand Cherokee 4xe. The class action lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, was initiated by Lisa and Jason Humphreys, who own a 2023 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara. It’s also worth noting that some 92,000 Grand Cherokee PHEVs were recalled last year for a sudden loss of power. Hopefully, Jeep’s new Grand Wagoneer 4xe won’t suffer similar issues.
About the author
Sebastian Cenizo
Senior Editor, Autoblog