4xe Electric Mode Unavailable Suddenly Under Load

[installer88]

Hi All -
I have a '21 4xe Rubicon with just over 3k on the clock. Been generally trouble free until yesterday I had a minor hiccup, wondering if others have had this and if it turned into something bigger over time.

I was on the freeway going up a fairly steep grade, traveling maybe 60, in electric mode, 50% charge. The engine/electric power gauge on the left was telling me that it was giving almost 100% on the electric motor. I put my foot down a little harder because I thought it was feeling a bit sluggish, and it didn't respond, didn't downshift. Then it kicked the gas motor on, popped into hybrid, and told me that the electric mode was temporarily unavailable. I exited the freeway and tried to put it back in electric, but it kept giving me the same message. For the rest of the trip (couple miles) it would not go back into electric and the motor didn't shut off at stop lights or when coasting etc. like it generally does. I finished my trip, ran my errand, and when I started it back up it was totally normal. Was only parked for 10 minutes.

Maybe it was sensing that I wanted to drive more aggressively and prioritized power over EV mode for the rest of the trip? Maybe a heat issue with the battery?

As an isolated incident, no big deal, but want to avoid that happening in the future mostly because it kicked the cold gas motor on and immediately applied load to it...

Any thoughts appreciated.

Edit: Saw that there was a thread on this late 2021, but didn't see any resolution.

Thanks!

You might have seen my thread. I have that happen almost everytime I get on the highway. The 3 dealerships I took it to claim it’s normal so I gave up on it. (One of them never actually drove the jeep). My findings were the battery gets too hot, and that’s its safety. However, it shouldn’t randomly loose acceleration, but jeep nor the dealers fully grasped what I was saying.

Honestly curious if you take yours in for this what they say.

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[madmax1618]

You might have seen my thread. I have that happen almost everytime I get on the highway. The 3 dealerships I took it to claim it’s normal so I gave up on it. (One of them never actually drove the jeep). My findings were the battery gets too hot, and that’s its safety. However, it shouldn’t randomly loose acceleration, but jeep nor the dealers fully grasped what I was saying.

Honestly curious if you take yours in for this what they say.

I'm planning to just take it in on Tuesday and see what they say. I've got a couple other things I want them to look at. I'll for sure post the results once I hear back.

 

[fcsallan]

FORM, no doubt.

 

[madmax1618]

You might have seen my thread. I have that happen almost everytime I get on the highway. The 3 dealerships I took it to claim it’s normal so I gave up on it. (One of them never actually drove the jeep). My findings were the battery gets too hot, and that’s its safety. However, it shouldn’t randomly loose acceleration, but jeep nor the dealers fully grasped what I was saying.

Honestly curious if you take yours in for this what they say.

Mine hasn't done it again, but I did end up taking it in, for a couple reasons. They did literally 18 hours worth of software updates, and it made a huge difference. Shifting, power delivery, ICE/electric motor transition all way smoother. I'm assuming they did that for you when you took it in? I'm sure it's a temperature issue, but maybe the power cut was due to the computer not handling the transition well.

Im lucky because one of the techs at my dealer has a 4xe and has put some good miles on it apparently, so is familiar.

 

[installer88]

I have no clue what all updates have been performed on my jeep to be honest. I took it to one dealer that did the recall and supposedly a bunch of updates. One of them is supposed to fix a 2-1 downshift. Then recently I went to another dealer for the same downshift concern and supposedly the first dealer never performed the update that was on the printed repair order I received. Max regen is different after the first update, but I dunno about all the others.

Mine hasn't done it again, but I did end up taking it in, for a couple reasons. They did literally 18 hours worth of software updates, and it made a huge difference. Shifting, power delivery, ICE/electric motor transition all way smoother. I'm assuming they did that for you when you took it in? I'm sure it's a temperature issue, but maybe the power cut was due to the computer not handling the transition well.

Im lucky because one of the techs at my dealer has a 4xe and has put some good miles on it apparently, so is familiar.

 

[madmax1618]

I have no clue what all updates have been performed on my jeep to be honest. I took it to one dealer that did the recall and supposedly a bunch of updates. One of them is supposed to fix a 2-1 downshift. Then recently I went to another dealer for the same downshift concern and supposedly the first dealer never performed the update that was on the printed repair order I received. Max regen is different after the first update, but I dunno about all the others.

I've heard that Jeep is working on setting up OTA updates for the whole drivetrain. That might help since the jeep will be updating itself and you won't need to rely on the dealer who tells you one thing and does another.

 

[Robsolf]

Full blown electric mode will be disabled automatically if it's forced to use the motor frequently. This doesn't mean the electric motor is failing; it's that power demand is too high to run with just electric, so it flips you to hybrid.

 

[MallBrawler]

I experience the same issue... 2023 4XE with 2000 miles, 2.5" lift and 37" tires. 5 minutes on the freeway on electric mode at 70mph, it'll struggle to maintain speed, then say "battery mode unavailable". A few minutes later, battery mode comes back. Then I have to remind myself that Chrysler only recently started making electric powertrains lol.

 

[madmax1618]

I experience the same issue... 2023 4XE with 2000 miles, 2.5" lift and 37" tires. 5 minutes on the freeway on electric mode at 70mph, it'll struggle to maintain speed, then say "battery mode unavailable". A few minutes later, battery mode comes back. Then I have to remind myself that Chrysler only recently started making electric powertrains lol.

Even stock I'm finding that it doesn't like freeway speed in electric mode. When I go 60 it seems to be ok. I'll watch the electric power meter and if it stays at 100% for more than a few seconds it'll bring the gas motor online. If you really think about it, the electric motor doesn't have all that much power alone to move this 6,000+ lb brick down the road at speed. However, if you stick it in hybrid mode and get going fast enough for it to do the blended hybrid thing, it's a very enjoyable ride.

 

[diesel_dave]

I experience the same issue... 2023 4XE with 2000 miles, 2.5" lift and 37" tires. 5 minutes on the freeway on electric mode at 70mph, it'll struggle to maintain speed, then say "battery mode unavailable". A few minutes later, battery mode comes back. Then I have to remind myself that Chrysler only recently started making electric powertrains lol.

70 mph and with 37" tires is going to pull more power than the electric system can put out for more than a few minutes at a time. My stock Rubicon will kick out of electric mode at 70 mph if there is a prolonged incline or strong headwind.

 

[sconrad24]

Even stock I'm finding that it doesn't like freeway speed in electric mode. When I go 60 it seems to be ok. I'll watch the electric power meter and if it stays at 100% for more than a few seconds it'll bring the gas motor online. If you really think about it, the electric motor doesn't have all that much power alone to move this 6,000+ lb brick down the road at speed. However, if you stick it in hybrid mode and get going fast enough for it to do the blended hybrid thing, it's a very enjoyable ride.

I dont know the exact power numbers off the top of my head but the electric motor only has around 100 hp and 200 lbs of torque. Its enough torque to get you going and then some but not enough hp for sustained highway speeds.

 

[MallBrawler]

Even stock I'm finding that it doesn't like freeway speed in electric mode. When I go 60 it seems to be ok. I'll watch the electric power meter and if it stays at 100% for more than a few seconds it'll bring the gas motor online. If you really think about it, the electric motor doesn't have all that much power alone to move this 6,000+ lb brick down the road at speed. However, if you stick it in hybrid mode and get going fast enough for it to do the blended hybrid thing, it's a very enjoyable ride.

Yeah... its an annoying limitation at least on this current iteration of EV technology. Without a doubt the motor is getting overloaded although I've owned a Fiat 500 EV (which is also a FCA product) you can do a high loading condition by leaving it floored at high speed and it'll just max out at 85-90mph and make the battery drain really fast, but it wouldnt shut down, lol.

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