Stellantis ‘Bricks’ Jeep Hybrids with Botched Software Update, Leaving Owners Stranded

A recent software update to the Jeep Wrangler 4xE plug-in hybrid has reportedly caused major malfunctions, leaving many owners stranded and some in potentially dangerous situations after their vehicles were “bricked” by the botched upgrade.

The Stack reports that on Friday, Stellantis released an over-the-air (OTA) software update for the uconnect system, which is installed in various Jeep Wrangler 4xE — the company’s plug-in hybrid model. However, the update contained bugs that caused vehicles to malfunction or become “bricked” if owners installed it. Bricking is technology slang for a device rendered completely useless by an upgrade or software change. The issue quickly became apparent as numerous Jeep owners across the United States reported problems with their vehicles following the update.

In response to the growing number of complaints, a Jeep customer support representative posted a warning on a 4XE forum on Saturday, urging customers to exercise extreme caution if they had completed the update. The representative, identified as “Kori,” advised those who had not yet installed the update to continue deferring it. Kori later clarified that the issue stemmed from a “telematics module box update” and confirmed that the software update was cancelled the same day.

Unfortunately, many Jeep owners had already installed the update before the cancellation, leading to immediate and potentially dangerous consequences. Some owners reported losing power abruptly while driving, putting them at risk of accidents. Kerry Hollis, an IT infrastructure employee at Wells Fargo and affected Jeep owner, shared his experience with The Stack, stating, “This was a software change that obviously wasn’t tested thoroughly and was dangerous and could have had life safety implications.” Hollis was fortunate to lose propulsion while driving at low speeds in his neighborhood, allowing him to pull over, restart the vehicle, and limp back home. However, he noted that others weren’t as lucky, experiencing issues while driving at highway speeds and in traffic.

Another owner, Stephen Gutowski, described his experience with the update. After installing the update on Friday night, Gutowski learned of the widespread issues through a Facebook group for 4xe owners. He took precautions and conducted a test drive in his parking lot, only to find that his Jeep killed the gas and refused to go back into drive after driving just half a mile. The dashboard lit up with warning lights, including the check engine light. Gutowski was eventually able to limp the vehicle back to his parking spot and contacted his local dealership, learning that it was a nationwide issue affecting at least the 2024 Wrangler 4xes.

Breitbart News reported extensively on the infamous 2024 internet outage caused by CrowdStrike, which bricked large portions of the net through a botched patch sent to computers around the world that broke certain Microsoft servers. Both software giants and car companies need to develop better practices when updating their products.