2021 Chrysler Pacifica

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.

While driving our 2021 Chrysler Pacifica PHEV in EV on the highway, at speed of 65 mph, the vehicle lost power and the accelerator pedal became unresponsive. This has occurred on three occassions, each on different days. The dashboard signaled these issues: Shift to P to Start, Service Charging System, and the check engine light indicator. This is a very serious safety issue. The Engine and Power failed while driving at highway speed, this has occurred 3 times in the past few weeks. After losing power, the vehicle can only coast using it's own momentum. The steering and braking functions remained operable, so the driver was able to steer the car to change lanes (while losing speed) to get to the shoulder. This UNSAFE for my family because vehicle is at risk of being rear ended while on the highway. This is unsafe for anyone in the vehicle directly behind my vehicle. After the 2nd incident of losing power while on highway, I made an appointment with local Chrysler Dealer's service department. They inspected the vehicle and, as I understand it, they found a message or fault indicator that was somewhat concerning in relation to the electrical system. The service provided a solution by adjusting or tuning something. They did not replace any parts. Three days after the service was done, the problem occurred again; again, my vehicle lost power while going ~65mph on the highway. I called local chrysler service and left message with them today, requesting another service appointment. When they call me back I will request Chrysler to report this as a safety issue.

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.

I was driving at just over 70MPH in hybrid mode (battery fully depleted for full electric operation) and suddenly the van lost all power and a warning came up on the screen that said "Service Charging System". The van was totally stalled and had no power, but still had electrical functions. I had to pull over on the side of the road in busy traffic, put the van in Park and then restart. After this event, my engine light has remained on and I am attempting to schedule an appointment with the Chrysler dealer. This high speed stall in busy traffic was extremely dangerous and I hope that we can resolve this matter effectively. The dash photo I uploaded is not my actual dash, but that is the exact same error screen and engine light that I saw. Exactly the same.

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.

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.

WHEN THE CAR WAS STOPPED AT A STOP SIGN GETTING READY TO MAKE A RIGHT TURN, THE ENGINE TURNED OFF. THOUGH THE CAR WAS ON DRIVE, I WAS UNABLE TO ACCELERATE OR MOVE THE CAR. I HAD TO SHIFT TO PARK, RESTART THE CAR AND WAS THEN ABLE TO DRIVE. THIS HAPPENED ELEVEN DAYS LATER AGAIN, IN EVEN SCARIER CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ENGINE TURNED OFF WHEN I WAS SLOWING DOWN IN PREPARATION TO MERGE INTO A HIGHWAY. THE CAR TURNED OFF AND STOPPED AND I COULD NOT ACCELERATE OR DRIVE, HOLDING UP THE CARS BEHIND ME. AGAIN I HAD TO SHIFT THE CAR TO PARK AND RESTART THE CAR BEFORE I COULD SHIFT BACK TO DRIVE AND START DRIVING. I HAD MY FOUR KIDS IN THE CAR WITH ME AND THIS WAS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND TERRIFYING FOR EVERYONE. A CAR THAT SUDDENLY TURNS OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF DRIVING WITHOUT WARNING IS NOT SAFE TO BE ON THE ROAD.