Jeep owners discovered something had gone terribly wrong with their vehicles.
What started as a routine software update turned into a crisis that spread across the country.
And what happened next has every driver with a connected vehicle wondering if they’re next.
Stellantis Pushed Untested Update That Failed Immediately
Stellantis released an over-the-air software update for the Jeep Wrangler 4xE plug-in hybrid targeting the uConnect system.¹
The update contained bugs that caused vehicles to malfunction or become completely "bricked" – technology slang for a device rendered totally useless by an upgrade.²
Problems became apparent within hours as Jeep owners across the country reported their vehicles failing after installing the update.³
A Jeep customer support representative named Kori posted a warning on a 4xE forum urging customers who hadn’t installed the update to keep deferring it.⁴
Kori later clarified the issue stemmed from a "telematics module box update" and confirmed Stellantis cancelled the software update the same day it was released.⁵
But thousands of owners had already installed the update before the cancellation – and faced immediate, potentially deadly consequences.
Drivers Lost Power at Highway Speeds in Life-Threatening Failures
Kerry Hollis, an IT infrastructure employee at Wells Fargo, experienced the terrifying reality of Stellantis’ incompetence firsthand.
"This was a software change that obviously wasn’t tested thoroughly and was dangerous and could have had life safety implications," Hollis told The Stack.⁶
Hollis got lucky – he lost propulsion while driving at low speeds in his neighborhood, allowing him to pull over safely.⁷
But other Jeep owners weren’t as fortunate, experiencing catastrophic failures while driving at highway speeds in heavy traffic.⁸
Stephen Gutowski learned about the widespread issues through a Facebook group for 4xE owners after installing the update Friday night.⁹
He conducted a test drive in his parking lot and discovered the vehicle shut down the gas engine and wouldn’t shift back into drive after traveling just half a mile.¹⁰
The dashboard erupted with warning lights including the check engine light.¹¹
Gutowski contacted his local dealership and learned this was a nationwide issue affecting at least 2024 Wrangler 4xEs.¹²
Stellantis Follows CrowdStrike Playbook for Maximum Destruction
This disaster follows the same pattern as the infamous 2024 CrowdStrike internet outage that bricked large portions of the internet through a botched patch.¹³
Both catastrophes share a common thread – companies pushing updates without proper testing and causing massive failures across their customer base.
Stellantis operates in an industry drowning in software recalls. Over 13 million vehicles were recalled in 2024 due to software-related issues, representing a 35% surge from the prior year.¹⁴
Ford alone had 94 recalls in 2025 – more than any automaker in history for a single year.¹⁵
Traditional car companies are discovering they can’t just become "software companies" by wishing it so.
The skills required to safely push over-the-air updates to vehicles – where failures can kill people – are vastly different from updating a smartphone app.
Stellantis Pushes Deadly Update While Company Hemorrhages Sales and Credibility
This software disaster comes at the worst possible time for Stellantis.
The company’s profits plummeted 48% in the first half of 2024.¹⁶
North American sales – where Jeep and Ram are supposed to be cash cows – dropped 20% in the third quarter.¹⁷
Former CEO Carlos Tavares resigned in December 2024 after dealers revolted over quality issues and inventory problems.¹⁸
Stellantis had already recalled approximately 790 Ram ProMaster BEV vehicles on October 2, 2025 for software issues causing loss of drive power.¹⁹
The Charger Daytona and Wagoneer S experienced "bricking" problems earlier this year requiring technical service bulletins to fix.²⁰
The company also shelved its highly touted Level 3 AutoDrive autonomous driving program after spending billions on development.²¹
And Stellantis paid $4.2 million in penalties for using defeat device software to circumvent emissions testing.²²
Stellantis executives pushed this Jeep update without proper testing while their company burns through cash, loses market share, and faces dealer revolts over quality control failures.
Traditional automakers trying to pivot to software-defined vehicles are learning a brutal lesson.
You can’t fake software competency when people’s lives depend on your updates working correctly.
Stellantis just proved they’re not ready for the software-defined vehicle future they keep promising investors.
¹ Lucas Nolan, "Stellantis ‘Bricks’ Jeep Hybrids with Botched Software Update, Leaving Owners Stranded," Breitbart, October 14, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ "How OTA Updates Reduce Automotive Recalls," IoT For All, accessed October 15, 2025.
¹⁵ Ibid.
¹⁶ "Stellantis CEO Targets Quality Issues at Key Assembly Plant," MoparInsiders, July 27, 2024.
¹⁷ "Why Stellantis Stumbled," The Week, December 17, 2024.
¹⁸ Ibid.
¹⁹ Robert S. Miller, "RECALL: 2024–2025 Ram ProMaster BEV Software Issues," MoparInsiders, October 15, 2025.
²⁰ Robert S. Miller, "Stellantis Rolls Out Fix for Charger Daytona & Wagoneer S," MoparInsiders, April 29, 2025.
²¹ Robert S. Miller, "Stellantis Pauses Level 3 Driver-Assistance Rollout Amid Software Shift," MoparInsiders, August 29, 2025.
²² "Stellantis to pay $4.2M for violations of CARB air quality regulations," Green Car Congress, December 27, 2024.
