The US Department of Transportation announced on Monday that it is investigating around 150,000 Ram trucks and Jeep SUVs due to sudden engine stalls that often prevent the vehicles from restarting.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported that 2022 RAM 1500 pickup trucks and 2022 Jeep Wagoneer SUVs are experiencing a sudden “loss of motive power due to electrical concerns, causing the engine to shut down with intermittent ability to restart.”
The Office of Defects Investigation has received 80 consumer complaints regarding engine stalls and loss of power in these Stellantis-manufactured vehicles. The affected vehicles are equipped with the Fiat Chrysler Automotive Group LLC (FCA) 5.7L Hemi eTorque hybrid engines.
“Many of the complaints state that the vehicle’s engine would shut off, often while traveling at slow speed, the vehicle would shift into park and apply the emergency brake,” the NHTSA reported.
No injuries have been reported due to this malfunction, and the NHTSA has opened a preliminary investigation, which may lead to a recall. Stellantis has stated that it is fully cooperating with the investigation.
This investigation represents more bad news for Stellantis, as Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram all saw declining sales in the second quarter.
Earlier this month, the government launched a recall investigation into 94,000 Jeep Wranglers. In June, the company had to recall more than 1 million vehicles in North America due to a software bug that could increase the risk of a crash.