Stellantis tells owners of over 24K hybrid minivans to park outdoors

Stellantis is advising owners of more than 24,000 plug-in hybrid minivans to park them outdoors, away from buildings, and stop charging them due to the potential for battery fires.

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan — Stellantis is advising owners of more than 24,000 plug-in hybrid minivans to park their cars outdoors, away from buildings, and stop charging them due to the risk of battery fires.

The company said Thursday it is recalling certain Chrysler Pacifica plug-in hybrids made in 2017 through 2021, primarily in North America. Some are being recalled for a second time. All can still be driven.

Stellantis, maker of Jeep, Chrysler, Ram and other auto brands, said the investigation is ongoing, but the company has linked the problem to a rare defect in individual battery cells. The risk of fire is reduced when the battery is dead.

A company review of warranty data found seven fires in the group of recalled vans. All occurred when the vehicles were turned off, and some occurred while charging, Stellantis said. Four customers reported symptoms of smoke inhalation.

Engineers are still testing the fix, which includes a software update designed to detect the battery abnormality. If a problem is found, dealers will replace the high-voltage battery at no cost to owners.

Owners will be notified by mail when they can bring their minivans in for service. After July 24, they can go to recalls.mopar.com or checktoprotect.org and enter their vehicle identification numbers to see if their vans are affected by the recall. Later models have an improved manufacturing process and are not being recalled, the company said.

The recall comes six months after U.S. safety regulators launched an investigation into a 2022 recall of nearly 17,000 of the vans. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in documents that it would assess the effectiveness of the recall and try to determine the cause of the battery fires.