2022 CHRYSLER PACIFICA PLUG-IN HYBRID Vehicle Speed Control Problems

The contact owns a 2022 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds in Hybrid Mode, the vehicle occasionally failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. In addition, the contact stated that the vehicle failed to maintain speed, and gradually decelerated while the accelerator pedal was being depressed. No warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously repaired several times by the local dealer. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer and remained with the dealer for further diagnostic tests and repair; however, the cause of the failure remained unknown. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 52,000.

Mileage: 52,000

Driving on highway and car shut off with a "Stop safely soon / vehicle turning off" warning message, a red turtle warning, and the Malfunction Indicator Light on. Pulled off on shoulder. Turned car off. Turned car back on. Malfunction Indicator Light remained on but red turtle was gone. I was able to get to my destination. Malfunction Indicator Light remained on for next few driving cycles, but then went off after fourth drive. My safety was definitely put at risk as I was driving on the highway at 60-70MPH when the car just shut down and slowly decelerated on its own. Because the MIL ultimately went off after my fourth drive, I thought I was in the clear--as the Chrysler manual says this light can come on if you've had a recent servicing because the on-board diagnostics may just be recalibrating. I had my car serviced 9 days previous to the incident. The manual says if the light doesn't go off on its own, then bring it in. It went off on its own, so I thought I was in the clear. However I see in online forums this has happened to others multiple times and I'm worried it will happen to me again. I am calling my dealer tomorrow. Thank you for taking this report!

I was driving the vehicle in the middle lane of a 3-lane (one direction) interstate highway when a message appeared on the dashboard "stop safely vehicle will shut off soon," the check engine light turned on and the vehicle lost all ability to accelerate so it was extremely challenging to navigate to the side of the road safely through busy rush hour traffic. As the driver I had zero ability to accelerate the vehicle whatsoever, the gas pedal did absolutely nothing, which can lead to an accident on the highway due to other vehicles moving very quickly and not expecting a vehicle that is not at the right of the road to come to a stop. I brought the vehicle to the Chrysler Dealership where they initially stated this is a known issue and they would be replacing the transmission and that the transmission is under 10-year/unliminted miles warranty for this specific error (POA43 Driver Motor), however once the dealership spoke with Chrysler corporate, they indicated that they would simply be clearing the code and they returned the car to us. We were advised to bring the vehicle back when the error recurs. We opted to sell the vehicle immediately instead, because it it not safe to drive now, but unfortunately this means we are passing the problem on to another consumer as Chrysler refuses to fix the problem. The case number they assigned is Case #[XXX]. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

On three separate days (2/27, 3/18, 3/29), the vehicle has shown a message saying “Stop safely, Vehicle will shut off soon”. The ability to accelerate is cut off. This has happened twice while on the highway, requiring a move across lanes to pull over safely due to loss of acceleration. After turning the car off, the car is able to turn back. The check engine light remains on for the next trip, but turns off on its own by the next day. This is a vehicle which was recently serviced for the following recalls: 1. NHTSA 23V-010 (unexpected engine shut down) completed on 1/16 2. FCA Campaign 47A (squealing serpentine belt) completed on 2/11

I was driving on [XXX] in Virginia, speed limit is 70mph, a warning flashed in the screen: “Stop Safely, Vehicle will Shut Off Soon.” The car immediately began decelerating, I pulled off the highway and restarted the car, but it would only drive very slowly (approx 15mph). After restarting two more times, it was able to drive normally. This is the second such incident, the car is under warranty. The first incident happened [XXX] and I brought the car to the dealer, Chrysler of Culpepper, Va. Their service department told me that they were unable to replicate the event after the first incident and it was likely just a computer glitch that has corrected itself. I have another service appointment scheduled, but they seem to be clueless on how to fix this incredibly dangerous problem. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

When driving approximately 65 mph on the highway, alert on the vehicle display came on saying to pull over the engine would shut down soon. We were able to pull over and the car no longer worked. We were driving with our family of young children in the car, had there been no shoulder to pull over on the highway we would have been extreme danger.

My 2022 Pacific Hybrid Limited stalled today while heading towards the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Luckily, I had enough momentum to make it to the shoulder. I've had it since late December and it has 3900 miles. It started with this whine for 10 miles prior to the stall, similar to the fake whine EV cars make to warn pedestrians. Then I hit a patch of traffic that dropped my speed to less than 10 mph. When traffic started to go again, the car shook and grumbled until it stopped accelerating all together. The check engine light blinked on. At that point I was maybe going 20mph and quickly started to go over two lanes (had to cut off a guy) but made it to the shoulder safely. Once we stopped, we all noticed the smell of something like burnt electronics. The car wouldn't move at the point. I tried turning the car off and on for the next 15 mins and still no go. The car also had <1% battery power (which we used up the battery maybe 20 minutes prior to the stall).

February 23rd: car shut off while getting off the freeway. Would not restart for 5 minutes. Had no acceleration but could still steer. February 23rd: brought car to the dealership, they scanned the car and there was no code. February 26th: car shut off 3 times on the freeway going 70mph. Had to pull over and restart car to be able to accelerate. I had my 2 kids in the car at this time and fear for their safety. March 1st- car shut off on the freeway going 70 mph. Had to pull over carefully again. Turn off the car, open the car door, wait a few minutes, restart. March 3rd- car shut off on the freeway again. Brought car to the dealership again, they asked for me to drop it off on Monday. March 6th- left car at dealership. They said it needs a new transmission and would be a minimum of 30 days to replace it, but most likely longer.

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

Driving on a major highway with little to no shoulder, we were accelerating up a slight incline going 65 miles per hour on a route loaded with semi trucks. As we accelerated the engine cut off taking away the ability to accelerate. We had to pull to the shoulder and the vehicle kept cycling all of its lights on and off. We were able to get the car moving again and within 5 minutes the same thing happened, engine turned off. Vehicle was towed to a Chrysler dealer, it showed 17 error codes thrown, Chrysler's policy was to reset the codes and drive 25 miles to replicate if it doesn't replicate send it home which is what they did. As our family was again on a highway accelerating the engine cut off with no ability to accelerate. We turned the vehicle off and started it again and the engine cut off leaving us to coast off the highway. Chrysler is now stating it's a software update that is needed and we are at day 4 with no car for a second time in two weeks