Stellantis is recalling 20,271 Jeep Wagoneer S and Dodge Charger EV vehicles after discovering a software error that can shut down the instrument panel display while the vehicle is in motion. The blackout strips drivers of their speedometer, gear-position indicator, and active safety warnings without notice, a failure serious enough that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration classified it as a violation of federal motor vehicle safety standards.
The recall, filed under NHTSA campaign number 26V262000, covers both models across the 2024 and 2025 model years. Chrysler (FCA US, LLC), the Stellantis subsidiary that submitted the campaign documents, has committed to a free software fix for every affected vehicle. But as of May 2026, key details about the rollout remain incomplete, and thousands of owners may not yet know their vehicle is on the list.
What the recall covers
According to the NHTSA filing, a software error in the instrument cluster can cause the entire display to go blank at unpredictable moments. Because both the Wagoneer S and the Charger EV rely on a fully digital instrument panel rather than analog gauges, a single failure point can erase every piece of real-time driving data at once: speed, battery status, turn-signal confirmation, and any active driver-assistance alerts.
NHTSA labeled the defect a noncompliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) rather than a safety-related defect initiated solely by the manufacturer. That distinction carries regulatory weight. It means the vehicles, as delivered, did not meet the federal performance requirement for instrument panel visibility. Campaign documents filed by Chrysler, housed in the agency’s 2026 recall document archive, include a dealer remedy instruction set, an owner notification letter template, and manufacturer acknowledgment forms.
The remedy itself is a software update provided at no cost. Dealers are required to perform the correction once the update is available. Under federal recall rules, manufacturers must provide a free fix and report back on completion rates.
What owners should do right now
If you own a 2024 or 2025 Jeep Wagoneer S or Dodge Charger EV, the most important step is confirming whether your specific vehicle is included. NHTSA offers a free VIN lookup tool on its website. Enter your 17-digit vehicle identification number and look for campaign 26V262000. This check is especially critical for anyone who bought their vehicle used or took delivery recently, since those owners may not yet appear in Stellantis’s mailing database.
Owners whose vehicles are covered should contact their local Stellantis dealer to ask about remedy availability and scheduling. Waiting for the official notification letter is an option, but calling the dealer directly can shorten the window of exposure. If the software update has not yet been released for your vehicle, ask to be placed on a priority list and request written confirmation that your VIN is covered under the campaign.
Until the fix is applied, drivers should be prepared for the possibility of a sudden display loss. Practical steps include maintaining extra following distance, avoiding situations where precise speed readings are critical, and staying aware that warning lights and driver-assistance alerts could vanish without notice. These precautions do not eliminate the risk, but they reduce the chance that a blackout catches a driver off guard during a demanding moment.
What Stellantis has not yet disclosed
Several questions that owners are likely asking remain unanswered in the public filings. The NHTSA recall entry does not specify how many complaints, crashes, or injuries have been linked to the display failure. Without that data, the real-world severity of the defect is difficult to gauge. The agency’s summary describes the risk in functional terms but stops short of listing incident counts.
No public statement from a Stellantis executive has accompanied the campaign filings. Secondary news coverage has referenced company alerts, but no verbatim quote from a spokesperson appears in the official NHTSA documents or the dealer instruction set. That silence leaves open questions: When did Stellantis first identify the bug? How many of the 20,271 vehicles had already been delivered to customers versus sitting in dealer inventory? And will the fix be delivered over the air, or will every owner need to schedule a physical dealer visit?
The dealer remedy instructions hint at a phased rollout, but no full schedule or parts-availability timeline has been published. For drivers who depend on their vehicle daily, the gap between recall announcement and actual repair availability is the period of greatest risk. NHTSA tracks how quickly manufacturers close out open campaigns, but no campaign-specific completion projection for 26V262000 has been made public.
A growing pattern in EV recalls
This campaign fits a broader trend that prospective EV buyers and regulators are watching closely. As electric vehicles replace mechanical gauges and hydraulic systems with software-driven digital interfaces, the nature of recalls is shifting. Display blackouts, battery-management errors, and charging-system faults have become recurring triggers across multiple manufacturers. A single coding mistake can disable information systems that older vehicles delivered through components far less prone to total failure.
That shift also changes how owners experience a recall. In a traditional mechanical campaign, a driver might notice a replaced part or a change in how the vehicle feels. In a software-driven recall like this one, the remedy may be invisible: a brief service visit or an update notification, even though the underlying safety stakes are significant. The Wagoneer S and Charger EV campaign illustrates the tension clearly. One bug can wipe out the entire instrument panel, yet the fix is framed as a routine software patch.
For regulators, the case highlights a potential gap between existing standards and the technology they now govern. FMVSS requirements for instrument panel visibility predate the widespread adoption of fully digital clusters, and those clusters can fail in ways that may not have been contemplated when the rules were drafted. As software-triggered recalls grow more common, agencies may face mounting pressure to update testing protocols, define acceptable levels of redundancy, and ensure that critical driving information remains accessible even during partial system failures.
Where the recall stands as of May 2026
The core facts on the public record are clear: 20,271 Jeep Wagoneer S and Dodge Charger EV vehicles are under recall because a software error can blank the instrument panel mid-drive. NHTSA has formally classified the issue as a federal safety standard noncompliance, and Stellantis has committed to a free repair. What remains unresolved is timing. Until the software update reaches every affected vehicle, owners are left managing a known risk with no firm date for resolution.
Drivers who want to stay ahead of the process should check their VIN on the NHTSA website, contact their dealer, and keep records of every interaction. If the display does go dark while driving, pulling over safely and restarting the vehicle may restore the screen temporarily, but it is not a substitute for the permanent fix. Stellantis and NHTSA have the recall on the books. Now the question is how quickly they can close it out.
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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
