The American brand has asked its customers not to plug in the Wrangler 4xe or park it near other vehicles or buildings. The Jeep Wrangler is one of the few pure off-roaders, if not the only one, that has a plug-in hybrid version. The key to this version, called Wrangler 4xe, is plugging it in to charge its battery and take advantage of its hybrid status. However, fate has wanted Jeep itself to recommend its customers not to plug the vehicle into power, and there are compelling reasons for this.
Just before Thanksgiving in the United States, Stellantis released a statement advising owners of the Jeep Wrangler 4xe not to plug them in and asking them not to park the vehicle near buildings or other cars.
The reason: is a possible problem with the high-voltage battery that could cause a fire in the vehicle, according to the SUV’s manufacturer. There are 31,125 units affected in the United States by this recall and 9,249 outside North America, including Europe.
They can be driven normally, although they lose performance
According to the company itself, eight fires have occurred due to this problem. At the time of the incident, all the cars were parked and six of them were plugged into a charger.
Apart from being careful with these warnings, the Wrangler 4xe can be driven normally. Of course, logically a notable part of its benefits is lost.
The Wrangler 4xe approves 44 kilometers of electric range (WLTP). Also thanks to its status as a hybrid vehicle, it announces an approved gasoline consumption of only 3.5 l/100 km, although the actual consumption then depends on the type of use and frequency with which the battery is charged.
Having a hybrid system like this has two main advantages: most daily trips can be made in electric mode, without using gasoline, and, therefore, emissions are avoided and the customer saves money (charging at home can be very economical). On the other hand, you can count on the extra contribution of torque offered by the electric part of the propeller. The electric motor of the Wrangler 4xe has 145 horsepower and 245 Nm of torque, very convenient especially in off-road driving. If we remove this part, we are left with only the 400 Nm of the gasoline engine.
The solution to the problem is detected
Customers who have a Wrangler 4xe must visit the official technical service, where a software diagnosis will be carried out on the vehicle to determine if everything is in order, or, on the contrary, they must go to the workshop.
Stellantis estimates that approximately 1% of the vehicles called for review are affected, approximately 300 vehicles. If you have a problem, you will need to install a new battery.
Stellantis has confirmed that this recall is unrelated to the one carried out last year on some units due to a problem with a battery fuse that could generate excessive heat. Nor is it the same case as the one that motivated the one carried out at the end of 2022, due to a problem that put the hybrid system in a safe mode and turned off the engine.
