Transporting gear for the Cubs' winter camp, January 2026
After six years of ownership and 87,000km, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid is a great concept that still meets our needs like few other vehicles could. But crucially, its systems were insufficiently developed before launch – and much as I love the car, I can see why some PacHy owners may have given up by this point.
A few weeks ago, we got the news that the high-voltage battery pack (drive battery) will need to be replaced. In early-May, Baymax had thrown a check-engine light. This wasn’t entirely unusual – we’ve had check-engine lights on and off for at least a couple of years now. This time, investigation by Crowfoot Dodge failed to identify a specific fault, so back on the road we went. But two weeks later, the light was on again, and this time the car refused to accept a charge.
A few weeks ago, we got the news that the high-voltage battery pack (drive battery) will need to be replaced. In early-May, Baymax had thrown a check-engine light. This wasn’t entirely unusual – we’ve had check-engine lights on and off for at least a couple of years now. This time, investigation by Crowfoot Dodge failed to identify a specific fault, so back on the road we went. But two weeks later, the light was on again, and this time the car refused to accept a charge.
The end, finally. This service message turned out to be Baymax’s way of saying, “I’m done with this high-voltage pack”
Following another 24 hours of investigation, Crowfoot’s verdict was that a new pack would be required. Last October, Chrysler extended the warranty on the high-voltage pack on all 2027-21 PacHys to the lifetime of the vehicle (increased from the original eight years/160,000km), for specific failure codes, so it won’t cost us anything further to replace it. But a PHEV that needs a new pack after 87,000km? Let’s be honest: that is very, very poor.
The latest setback comes just over a year after a battery pack control module software update had supposedly put one of the long-running Pacifica Hybrid battery faults – which we thought we had avoided – to bed.
Given the ongoing warranty issues and the regulatory climate in the USA, it’s no surprise that Stellantis dropped the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid from the lineup at the end of 2025, along with its similarly powered, ‘4xe’ Jeep PHEV models. For more on this, I recommend you read this article from The Drive (once you’ve finished this blog post, of course!).
Otherwise, things have been thankfully quiet with the car since the last update in September. There was only one day this winter when the snow was deep enough to prevent the Pacifica from leaving the driveway (the long wheelbase and low ride height combine to leave it beached when the snow is especially deep).
The latest setback comes just over a year after a battery pack control module software update had supposedly put one of the long-running Pacifica Hybrid battery faults – which we thought we had avoided – to bed.
Given the ongoing warranty issues and the regulatory climate in the USA, it’s no surprise that Stellantis dropped the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid from the lineup at the end of 2025, along with its similarly powered, ‘4xe’ Jeep PHEV models. For more on this, I recommend you read this article from The Drive (once you’ve finished this blog post, of course!).
Otherwise, things have been thankfully quiet with the car since the last update in September. There was only one day this winter when the snow was deep enough to prevent the Pacifica from leaving the driveway (the long wheelbase and low ride height combine to leave it beached when the snow is especially deep).
A compressor run from Baymax’s 115V socket reinflated our friend’s tires on a bitterly cold February day
That’s not to say that the Hybrid is a terrible winter vehicle – not at all, in fact. Twice this winter it came to the rescue of friends’ vehicles. In February, we used the 115V socket to run a compressor to reinflate some tires on a friend’s stranded Infiniti. On the second occasion, a particularly cold late-April day, that socket ran a mains charger to bring the 12V battery in another friend’s RAV4 temporarily back to life (the battery was subsequently tested, deemed faulty and replaced under warranty by Canadian Tire).
Those days were further reminders of some of the benefits of the plug-in hybrid setup. It’s just a pity that Chrysler released something so flawed into the market to begin with.
Spring came very late to Calgary this year – we were still getting substantial dumps of snow in May – but on June 3, we finally had new tires fitted. It was clear last autumn that the outgoing Nexen N’Priz RH7as would not be going back onto Baymax in the spring, with the tread worn down almost to the warning markers and the shoulder area tread blocks starting to fray. By my calculations, the energy-saving Nexens have lasted for about 43,700km; they might have remained legal until 50,000km (31,000 miles), but I prefer not to run tires down to the bare minimum.
Those days were further reminders of some of the benefits of the plug-in hybrid setup. It’s just a pity that Chrysler released something so flawed into the market to begin with.
Spring came very late to Calgary this year – we were still getting substantial dumps of snow in May – but on June 3, we finally had new tires fitted. It was clear last autumn that the outgoing Nexen N’Priz RH7as would not be going back onto Baymax in the spring, with the tread worn down almost to the warning markers and the shoulder area tread blocks starting to fray. By my calculations, the energy-saving Nexens have lasted for about 43,700km; they might have remained legal until 50,000km (31,000 miles), but I prefer not to run tires down to the bare minimum.
New tires for old! Baymax gets some new boots
I looked at a few options for replacements before ultimately taking up a kind offer from Canadian Tire/MotoMaster to try a set of their brand-new Hydra Edge Pluses. These all-seasons are developed with and made by Sailun Tire, a Chinese tire company whom I’ve long followed in my capacity as a tire writer because of their groundbreaking adoption several years ago of a revolutionary new liquid-rubber mixing technique, which they market as EcoPoint3.
Versus the outgoing Hydra Edge Tour, the new MotoMasters promise better wet handling, grip, comfort and tread durability. In keeping with many recently introduced designs, staggered lugs in the tread pattern reduce road noise. Finally, the maker says that steering response is sharper thanks to a stronger cap ply.
After independent testing, Canadian Tire has installed it as its #1 all-season pick, assessing that it matches the best the tier one tire companies have to offer. Time will tell whether the Hydra Edge Plus lives up to these bold performance claims.
Versus the outgoing Hydra Edge Tour, the new MotoMasters promise better wet handling, grip, comfort and tread durability. In keeping with many recently introduced designs, staggered lugs in the tread pattern reduce road noise. Finally, the maker says that steering response is sharper thanks to a stronger cap ply.
After independent testing, Canadian Tire has installed it as its #1 all-season pick, assessing that it matches the best the tier one tire companies have to offer. Time will tell whether the Hydra Edge Plus lives up to these bold performance claims.
New rubber fitted by the good people at OK Tire Northmount, who also rebalanced the tires on our Subaru
Writing this after only three weeks of use I can at least say that we’ve had no nasty surprises so far. It’s a little difficult to make a like-for-like comparison with the previous all-seasons so far, due to the Pacifica currently functioning as a regular hybrid, rather than a plug-in. As such, the pack is only being charged during normal use – under braking, or on a prolonged downhill stretch, for example – rather than from mains electricity. It’s interesting to see that in such a scenario, average fuel economy is still a reasonable 7.6L/100km (31mpg) in mixed use. For comparison, we got 7.1L/100km (33mpg) on our mostly-highway US road trip back in 2022, while the similarly functioning Toyota Sienna Hybrid’s official combined consumption is 6.6L/100km (36mpg).
At the time of writing, I’m awaiting the arrival of the replacement pack. Once it’s in the car and we’ve covered some miles then I’ll report back on how things look in the brave new world of a (hopefully) fault-free hybrid system, as well as with an update on the new tires. Have a great summer and thanks for reading!
At the time of writing, I’m awaiting the arrival of the replacement pack. Once it’s in the car and we’ve covered some miles then I’ll report back on how things look in the brave new world of a (hopefully) fault-free hybrid system, as well as with an update on the new tires. Have a great summer and thanks for reading!