Ram recalls over 130,000 eTorque 1500 trucks over stalling problems

Over 131,000 units of the 1500 pickup truck manufactured during the 2021 model year and outfitted with the V8-electric eTorque mild-hybrid powertrain are included in the recall that Ram has issued. A software-related issue that sounds easy to fix could cause the campaign's trucks to stall.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has given the recall with the number 23V-265, and it affects 131,700 of the 1500 vehicles produced between June 3, 2020, and September 12, 2021. Ram estimates that the fault is present in every one of the impacted trucks throughout this time, but only those equipped with the 5.7-liter Hemi V8 eTorque engine are in question. This spans the entirety of the production run for the 2021 model year.

Ram / FCA says that, "under certain operating conditions," the eight-cylinder engine "may experience an engine shut-down caused by an over-rich fuel condition," however it makes no mention of when this would happen. Or to put it another way, the vehicle might suddenly stall, which raises the possibility of an accident. Ram is aware of one incident connected to the issue, but it also notes that nobody was hurt. In addition, between 2020 and 2023, it received 636 warranty claims, 206 customer records, and 53 field reports that could be connected to the problem.

In January 2023, Ram engineers started investigating the issue, and they came to the conclusion that the software in the powertrain control module was to fault. Fortunately, the issue is extremely simple to fix.