NHTSA Complaint #11508248 — 2022 CHRYSLER PACIFICA PLUG-IN HYBRID

While driving on the freeway at 60-70 mph, in 20 degree weather at night, the engine suddenly, and without warning, stopped. A dash error message showed instructions to put the car in park and push the start / run button. The van was still traveling at a high rate of speed while the message stayed up and the van had to be carefully maneuvered through traffic, across multiple lanes to the next exit, without the ability to accelerate when needed. Somehow no one was hurt and the vehicle did not get into an accident, but it came to a stop in the middle of the exit ramp, which had a steep uphill grade. The van was unable to be restarted. A Good Samaritan helped push the car to a nearby lot while car was in neutral. It was unable to be started then and two and three days later. The roadside assistance couldn’t be provided until a few days later because the incident occurred at the beginning of the weekend. The vehicle was finally towed to the closest dealership today. The dealership said the software update is available for the recall of potential loss of motive power, which appears to be the issue we experienced. They said it would take 2-3 weeks to look at the vehicle due to their backlog. I called the dealership where we bought it, and they said the same. Also, based on initial research, it seems the software update will only give advance warning when an electrical short is about to cause the engine to stop so the driver can have advanced warning and presumably drive to safety without an accident. Unfortunately, the manufacturer still needs to address the root cause and build a solution to prevent the electrical short from happening in the first place. The situation is troubling and the manufacturer and both dealerships are even stalling in getting us a complimentary loaner vehicle. Also note that we were not instructed to stop driving the vehicle when we found out about the recall prior to the incident. Again the van won’t be fixed for weeks, NHTSA shows no remedy yet