2021 Chrysler Pacifica

While driving on the interstate at ~60MPH the vehicle suddenly shut off and flashed a "Service Charging System" Error. The gas pedal was unresponsive and we were forced to swerve through traffic as the vehicle was rapidly decelerating to make our way to the side of the interstate. This is a minivan, and as a minivan, we were using it for it's intended purpose of transporting our 4 small children to school and daycare. Because this event happened on the interstate, not only did we risk a high speed crash, but we had to move the kids from one vehicle to another as cars whizzed by at 60-70mph. We tried multiple attempts at restarting the vehicle and it would not restart. The vehicle is currently at the dealership and is being looked at under warranty.

I wanted to write to you and let you know about our recent and scary experience with our new 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Limited. We purchased our van on Labor Day, September 6, 2021. Since then, we have had 2 out of town family funerals and a family vacation so we have right at 5k miles on the vehicle. On 11/5/2021, at approximately 1:15pm, I was driving our van on a 6-lane major thoroughfare with my two small children with me. We had 43% of our EV battery remaining and so we were driving on EV power (and had a half tank of fuel also). Suddenly, the engine power stopped, I had no acceleration, and a “Service Charging System” message popped up on the instrument info panel along with a check engine light, a red battery light near the compass, and a red plug symbol just below the fuel gauge. I was not able to get the van to do anything but roll with whatever forward momentum we had toward the side of the highway. In nothing short of a miracle, we avoided multiple collisions and safely made it to the shoulder. We had electric power to run the radio and climate fan only but the car engine was completely inoperable and could not start or shift into gear after multiple attempts to restart it. I contacted roadside assistance and waited for a tow while trying to keep my small children calm and safe sitting in a dangerous location on the side of a highway. After about 30 minutes, the car engine fan shut off and so I attempted to restart the car and it finally worked. I immediately headed toward the closest dealership by taking the side roads and hoping that we wouldn’t have another incident and be a sitting duck on the highway again. This vehicle malfunction could have, and realistically still could, cause a traumatic and horrific fatal motor vehicle collision. This is not just a routine and minor malfunction like a door sensor issue, or check engine light, etc. This issue can lead to a severe safety issue that will, and did, render the vehicle a target with no escape.

I was in the garage near the car when it started spontaneously. I had the key fob in my pants pocket. It turned off when I sat inside and pushed the ignition off button. Did not notice any warnings/lights at the time. There were no safety consequences. My Concerns: What else could happen spontaneously? Could it shift into gear? Carbon monoxide in the closed garage? Has not recurred. The only recent auto malfunction was the Information display (UConnect) had locked up a couple of weeks prior after a routine software download to the car. No problem with vehicle operation with that episode. Checked by the dealer and felt to be OK. No recurrence. I attempted to notify MOPAR. Their web page email didn’t work for a several tries. I was unable to get past their customer service robot who got stuck on “other” when I couldn’t pick one of their menu options. I wanted NHTSA to be aware in case of other similar reports.

We purchased our brand new 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Limited on April 19th, 2021, from Hoblit Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Woodland CA. At the dealership, my wife and I were able to add user profiles to the UConnect system, thereby customizing our driving experience to fit our individual needs. However, I started to notice a number of issues with the vehicle over the following weeks. UConnect Related: 1) The ability to add and remove user profiles disappeared. 2) The UConnect system randomly resets about once every couple weeks. 3) The UConnect system will randomly blast the AM/FM radio or will randomly start playing Sirius XM at loud volumes. 4) The Navigation System will sometimes navigate to the wrong location, despite the address being inputted correctly (I used google maps on my phone to confirm the wrong address). General Vehicle Issues: 1) The vehicle will sometimes keep itself turned on (despite turning the vehicle off) as long as a phone is connected to the vehicle via bluetooth (the car doesn't drop the bluetooth connection after turning the vehicle off!). 2) Sometimes, the vehicle will power on, allow you to shift into other gears, but won't steer or drive (I have video of this). Lane Keeping Assistance: 1) The driver-side lane departure correction is noticeably less accurate than the passenger-side. I'm hoping you all can help get some attention on these issues. It's crazy that Chrysler released the 2021 Pacifica Hybrids with such a faulty UConnect system. The internet seems to suggest that Chrysler is and has been aware of all of these issues but has not yet done anything to correct them. Mechanically, this car is great, but technologically, it's so bad my wife has on more than one occasion voiced her regret regarding this purchase. Our experiences are not one-offs, these issues are systemic across the 2021 Pacifica Hybrids. I have videos for items 1 and 2 under the "General Vehicle Issues" section above.

Here is our list they are "working on"... 1. had the no start issue 3 times...the first 2 times I could ONLY get it to start using the U-Connect app that we got free for the first year or whatever. The 3rd time I eventually got it to start after 3 tries. I did actually record the 2nd attempt so I have video proof of the exact issue. 2. we also have the issue of the entire system not shutting down after turning the car off AND completely exiting the vehicle...and even locking it. I can sit outside the van and listen to the music continue playing until it eventually shuts itself off after about a minute. Yes I know there are settings for it to remain playing after turning off the car but it is supposed to turn off when you open the door. 3. we have unreliable mirror folding issues...sometimes they fold when you park and unfold as they should...and sometimes they just don't at all...which really sucks in the garage and 3 kids running around the van. 4. a couple times while driving it, the main 10" screen just went black and all music stopped and then it rebooted itself and showed the Chrysler symbol and then all came back online. Side note, my workplace has a 2021 regular gas Pacifica and this happened at about our 1 hour mark into a 3 hour trip also...probably a software issue. 5. we don't get even close to 30 miles range on the battery...more like 20 if we are lucky...not sure on this one. 6. the rear lift gate button only works some of the time. basically if we don't close it within about a minute of opening it, then we have to manually pull it down (we never did get to try using the button up front or the remote, but the actual button at the rear liftgate area just doesn't work reliably). 7. this one is a little strange...but the XM stations don't update the actual song name when sitting in that multi-page view. It will just show the first song that played. The only way to update the song name is to actually hit the media icon to make it go full screen.

My issue matches the issue reported in NHTSA ID Number: 11414581. My own words describing the incident: We have a new 2021 PHEV Limited (purchased May 3, 2021), which has with 977 miles (554.5 electric, 423.1 Hybrid). On May 24, 2021 my wife had driven about 2 miles to a store parking lot, turned off the car and parked, then came back home, all on electric, all working fine. The car had a full charge when she left so it had 31 miles remaining when she got home. She pulled off on the side of the road in front of our house and put it in park and shut it off. About 30 seconds later (not exactly sure on the timing ) she tried turning it on to drive up our driveway and it wouldn’t turn on. The dash just kept saying “push break and push button to start”. She would do that, and nothing would happen - the message would stay up, then we’d here a ding and the message would disappear for a fraction of a second and reappear. This happened many times over a period of about 7 or 8 minutes (I actually recorded it on my phone). At one point we tried putting it in drive and it rolled backwards down the road like it was in neutral, while the the D indicator light flashed (rather than be on solid). She finally got it to turn off, then it started normally. This is unsafe as it sort of appears like the engine is running first (you can’t hear anything because it’s in electric mode) so you put it into gear and then you roll backward if you’re on a slight incline. We have not taken it to the dealership yet because our car was actually delivered with a scratch on the door and is being painted right now. Once it is done we will call Chrysler care for help and take the car in for service.

Vehicle broke down twice related to the hybrid electrical system. First Incident: vehicle would not start after being parked and turned off; upon attempt to start, vehicle displayed a "Service Electronic Throttle Control" error message in dash. Second Incident: vehicle was in motion on highway at ~65 mph, and suddenly displayed "Service Hybrid Electric System" error message in dash. Vehicle proceeded to enter into turtle mode and began deceleration which is dangerous while on highway. Took vehicle in both times to different dealers. Both dealers reported seeing error codes related to the hybrid system. Repair related to the First Incident: First Dealer flashed the BPCM module. Car ran fine until Second Incident Repair related to the Second Incident: still ongoing. 2nd Dealer reported that the 62-way wiring harness needed to be replaced. Dealer ordered MOPART replacement part number 68396626AA (the replacement part) to make the repair. At first, 2nd Dealer identified DTC codes related to the Second Incident but could not identify the issue. So 2nd Dealer reset the DTC codes without making repairs or further investigation, and attempted to get consumer to pick up vehicle. Chrysler pushed for further investigation, and resulted in identification of the wiring harness issue.

WHEN ATTEMPTING TO START THE VAN IT WILL PERIODICALLY NOT ENGAGE. THE GEAR SELECTOR WILL BLINK WHEN YOU SELECT A GEAR, BUT IT WILL NOT RESPOND TO THROTTLE. THE VEHICLE WILL ROLL HOWEVER. THIS BECOMES A GREATER PROBLEM AS YOU NEED TO REMOVE YOUR FOOT FROM THE BRAKE TO CYCLE THE VAN BACK TO OFF. ALL OF THESE ISSUES ARE COMPOUNDED BY FACT IT IS A PHEV AND THERE IS NO ENGINE NOISE TO HELP YOU NOTICE IT HAS NOT STARTED. CHRYSLER HAS SAID THEY ARE AWARE OF THE ISSUE, BUT THEY HAVE GIVEN NO INFORMATION OTHER THAN A FIX IS SUPPOSED TO COME SOMETIME IN Q2 OF 2021.