Gadgetory

hey guys it's neil i with the verge fiat-chrysler is accelerating the recall of 1.1 million jeep and dodge vehicles with a really confusing electronic shifter the 2014 and 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee and other cars had an electronic shifter that's so confusing to use it's actually implicated in the death of Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin now as it happens I own a 2014 Dodge Grand Cherokee I have the shifter and it is really confusing it's a weird mix of software and hardware that doesn't quite work way to expect so here's the shifter in the 2014 and 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee it's called the monostable shifter and it's because when you pull it back it returns to that center position this is the big problem it doesn't give you feedback about what gear you're in because it always comes back to that center position there's little clicks they are very very subtle you can't see them but when you're shifting the car you can feel them so to pull back and drive I feel one two three of those clicks to put it back in a park I can feel one two three of those clicks that last one between reverse and park is really hard to feel so here's the problem when you've got it in Drive if you don't get it right you'll just end up in Reverse if you've got it in Drive and you just hit it you end up in neutral all of those emotions are the same motion is to get it in the park and there's no feedback about being all the way in the front like with a regular car the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tested the shifter and in February of this year said that operation of the monostable shifter is not intuitive and provides a poor tactile and visual feedback to the driver increasing the potential for unintended gear selection the agency found 306 incidents of vehicle roll away following intended shifts to park that resulted in 117 alleged crashes 2800 scratches actually caused injuries and now there's an investigation into Yelchin staff so because this is really a software problem the recall doesn't involve changing any parts it's a three-and-a-half-hour software upgrade where a Jeep dealer will plug in your engine computer and change the software so that if you open the door while you're in neutral the car will automatically apply the parking brake that's it it's just a software fix and it's taken months to roll out but now Jeep has released it they've accelerated the schedule and if you have a 2014 23 teen Jeep Grand Cherokee or another FCA vehicle that's affected by the recall you should take it in immediately you