Jeep has been slapped with a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Detroit that alleges it hasn’t done enough to resolve an issue with the Wrangler 4xe that can cause it to catch fire.
The lawsuit names nine plaintiffs across seven states, all owners of Wrangler 4xe models. It is a proposed class-action complaint and alleges that the fire risk can be attributed to the vehicle’s lithium-ion battery packs. While the suit claims that the manufacturer has not offered any fix for the defect, Stellantis asserts this is not the case and that dealers are now making the necessary repairs.
“While FCA contends that the root cause of the fires is unknown, alarmingly to consumers, it appears virtually certain that the defect is connected to the vehicles’ high-voltage lithium-ion battery packs and related components used to propel the vehicles when they are operating in electric mode,” the suit claims.
Read: Jeep Wrangler 4xe PHEV Recalled After Eight Fires
In November, Stellantis revealed a fire risk associated with the Wrangler 4xe and announced a recall for 32,125 units in the United States, 3,856 in Canada, and an additional 9,294 units elsewhere. At the time, the company said the fix would either involve a software flash or if a certain error code was observed, the entire battery pack would be replaced free of charge. Jeep is aware of 8 vehicle fires, all of which occurred when the cars were parked and turned off.
The Detroit News notes that a report published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on February 22 revealed the company would begin notifying dealers about the fix from last week while owners would be informed from March 7.
In addition to the lawsuit saying that Stellantis hasn’t done enough to address the issue, it claims the carmaker should have known about a possible vehicle defect because of a “history of issues” related to the Samsung SDI batteries used in its pack. The plaintiffs want restitution to include the purchase price of their Jeeps, as well as monetary damages.
