Drive by Brake: What Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram Owners Need to Know

• Drive by Brake is a safety feature found on several Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles.
• Popular models like the Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee have this technology.
• Problem is, most people don't know what Drive by Brake is or what it does.

Ever heard of Drive by Brake? We certainly hadn't — at least, not until this feature activated in our Dodge Charger Daytona EV late last month.

Drive by Brake is a safety function that provides "a controlled and limited amount of torque" should a vehicle's accelerator stop working, according to Dodge. This means an owner can safely continue to drive the vehicle for a short period of time, and at speeds up to 50 mph, using the brake pedal to control the speed.

It seems smart, in theory. The problem is, most Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram owners don't know this feature exists.

Which vehicles have Drive by Brake?

According to Dodge's parent company, Stellantis, the following vehicles are equipped with the Drive by Brake safety feature:

• Chrysler Pacifica
• Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
• Dodge Charger Daytona EV
• Jeep Grand Cherokee
• Jeep Grand Wagoneer
• Jeep Wagoneer
• Jeep Wagoneer S EV
• Ram 1500

It's important to note that Drive by Brake isn't just found in electric cars like our Charger Daytona. "The sensation of acceleration can be different in an EV compared with an ICE powertrain," a Dodge spokesperson said.

Customer education is nonexistent 

Drive by Brake isn't common knowledge; editor Brent Romans searched for this term on Google and only found recent articles or forum discussions about the problem we had with our Charger. This feature isn't listed anywhere in the Charger's owner's manual, and no warning or notification popped up on the Charger's screen when it happened, telling us what to do.

"The diagnostic trouble code from your [Charger Daytona] shows that the engine control module detected a malfunction in the torque delivery system. The response to the malfunction is to trigger the Drive by Brake function," Dodge said in a statement, implying that the feature worked correctly. 

To its credit, several Dodge representatives we spoke to agree that the company needs to do a better job educating customers about this function — or, at the very least, telling them that it's active. Whether or not our Charger's self-imposed acceleration was truly "unintended" certainly doesn't mean it wasn't unexpected.