In early November 2025, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced an expanded safety recall for the Jeep Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrids after Stellantis NV, through its Chrysler division, identified a potential risk of battery-pack fires. While relatively minor compared to historic campaigns, the Takata airbag inflator recall remains the largest in history, affecting 67 million vehicles across multiple manufacturers. The incident comes at an unfortunate time for the hybrid segment, which continues to face skepticism from traditional enthusiasts of internal-combustion engines.
The recall affects approximately 320,065 vehicles in the United States, specifically model-year 2020-2025 Wrangler 4xe and model-year 2022-2026 Grand Cherokee 4xe vehicles. Of that total, 228,221 are Wrangler units and 91,844 are Grand Cherokee units. According to the NHTSA’s announcement, the affected vehicles may contain high-voltage battery pack cells with damaged separators. This defect can lead to internal thermal events that may result in a fire while the vehicle is parked or in motion.
In its bulletin, NHTSA stresses that owners of the affected vehicles should “park their vehicles outside and away from structures and other vehicles until their vehicle has been remedied.” Chargers must not be used on these vehicles until the remedy is performed, because the battery risk is higher when the pack is charged compared to when it is depleted. The agency notes that the recall even applies to vehicles already subject to a previous recall (24V-720) issued for related hybrid control-system faults, because the earlier remedy did not resolve this particular issue.
Stellantis has recorded 19 fires believed to have originated from the battery pack in these vehicles, including nine in units already treated under the previous recall. One injury has potentially been linked to this defect. Shockingly, because a final repair is not yet available, owners are urged to follow the interim safety instructions until the manufacturer issues and performs the full remedy. Notification letters are expected to begin mailing on December 2, 2025.
For owners and prospective buyers, the ramifications of this recall are significant. Vehicles marketed as capable plug-in hybrids now carry a fire risk that must be managed actively; the interim advice to park outdoors and avoid charging underscores the seriousness of the defect. For those travelling in remote or off-grid environments—often the case in overland or off-road use—the inability to reliably park safely or to charge the battery may impose constraints on how the vehicle is used.
From the vantage of fleet operators or private owners preparing for rugged terrain, this recall raises questions about battery-pack durability and the depth of hybrid-system testing under real-world conditions. The inclusion of vehicles previously repaired under an earlier campaign suggests that initial solutions may not have addressed the full scope of the failure mode. The specialty of high-voltage battery architectures means that failure modes such as separator damage and internal thermal runaway are not as intuitively visible or testable in routine maintenance schedules.
For potential buyers of used Wrangler 4xe or Grand Cherokee 4xe vehicles, this recall highlights the importance of a clear service history and confirmation that the recall remedy has been completed once it becomes available. Until then, even vehicles that appear to be fully functional carry a latent risk.
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