Jeep Recalls Nearly 200,000 Hybrids For Malfunctioning Defrost System

Jeep is recalling nearly 200,000 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. A recall issued by the automaker and published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe could have software that disables the windshield defrost system in certain conditions.

A select number of 2021-2024 Wranglers and 2022-2024 Grand Cherokees were built with incorrectly programmed hybrid control processor software. The recall affects 139,318 Wrangler 4xes and 59,825 Grand Cherokee plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, dating back to the beginning of the variants' production.

Jeep produced the affected vehicles from September 2, 2020, to August 24, 2023, and from July 23, 2021, to December 5, 2023, respectively. Jeep will fix the issue by updating the hybrid control processor. It's already implemented the new software in the models' production, so if you're about to take delivery of a new Jeep, you don't have to worry about this problem.

This is the Wrangler 4xe's second recall in four months. In November, Jeep asked owners not to charge their vehicle's battery due to a potential fire risk affecting 32,000 cars.

Stellantis says it first became aware of the issue in June 2023, investigating the inoperative defrost systems through January. It'll inform affected owners by April 5. If you think your Jeep may be affected, we suggest heading over to the NHTSA's recall website and punching in your VIN.