2022 Land Rover Defender Electrical Problems

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2022 Land Rover Defender owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

I purchased a 2022 V8 after waiting about a year to get the vehicle. It mostly has been a good car until recently. I was pulling into my garage, which has a downhill grade, and there was ice on the surface of the driveway and subsequently slid into the corner of my garage going no more than 3-5 mph. Quarter size dent on the bumper, no big deal... I thought. Tried to reverse away from the garage and the car wouldn't move. All of the warning lights appeared. I was able to finally get it to reserve but every time I would put it into drive from there, the parking brake would turn on and the brakes would lock up. I had it towed to a Land Rover dealership and apparently the entire ABS module has faulted. They ordered a new one and installed it only to find out that it still isn't working properly. Land Rover says this isn't covered by warranty as it isn't a manufactures defect. …

My vehicle had been at the Land Rover South Bay Service department from 11/3/21 to 11/10/21 because the suspension fault indicator had come on the prior week and the air suspension had temporarily failed. In addition, it occasionally does not start when I press the start button with my foot depressing the brake pedal and the key is in the car. It is a brand new vehicle with about 1,750 miles. On 11/11/21 I was driving the vehicle down a hill at approximately 40-45 MPH when the automatic emergency braking system self activated for no reason. The vehicle came to a rapid, abrupt stop and the closest vehicle in front of us was at least 20 yards ahead. There were no obstacles in the road. Luckily, there was no vehicle following me or we would have been rear-ended. …

My 2022 Land Rover Defender was equipped with a factory-spec winch (a WARN Xeon Platinum 10-S, with Land Rover-supplied surrounds, etc.) installed immediately upon delivery by a JLR dealership. The winch is setup for a wireless winch remote, which intermittently loses pairing to the actual winch control unit. Due to the design of the Land Rover mounts, however, the winch's controls (necessary to reset and reconnect the remote) are entirely inaccessible. The truck has to be taken to a JLR dealer every time the winch remote disconnects, the bumper and winch surrounds must be removed, and the controls thereby accessed to reset the system. So, several days' worth of work every time the remote happens to disconnect, which is not a workable design. …

Safety Complaint - DC-to-DC Converter Failure Causing Vehicle Shutdown I am submitting this complaint to report a DC-to-DC converter failure that rendered my vehicle inoperable. The authorized Land Rover service department diagnosed a failed DC-to-DC converter. This component is part of the vehicle's electrical system and its failure caused a loss of vehicle functionality. I was informed the replacement part is on national back order, with an estimated repair time of up to two months. Based on owner reports and service discussions, this appears to be a common failure affecting Land Rover mild-hybrid vehicles. Many reports describe sudden loss of electrical power, warning messages, and vehicle shutdown. …

On January 25, 2026, while driving my 2022 Land Rover Defender 110 in Colorado on Interstate 70, the vehicle suddenly and completely lost power with no warning. There were no dashboard alerts, warning lights, or messages prior to the failure. The vehicle abruptly became disabled while traveling at highway speed, creating an immediate and serious risk of a crash, severe injury, or death to myself and other motorists. I was extremely fortunate to be able to safely maneuver the vehicle out of traffic and exit the highway. Given traffic conditions on I-70, this failure could easily have resulted in a major accident. The vehicle was undrivable and had to be towed to Flatirons Land Rover in Colorado on January 25, 2026. …

DC to DC converter failure that displays a RED warning indicator that says "Stop Safely Electrical Fault Detected" with a red battery indicator symbol displayed simultaneously. I called the dealer as this is the 3rd time I have experienced similar electrical issues that have left me stranded since my purchase of this truck new Jan '22. The dealer brushed me off the first time telling me I didn't drive the vehicle enough, 2nd time they replaced the battery, now they said they had a bulletin (1 month prior) from Land Rover of known DC-DC converter failure with no ETA for parts. I was told by the dealer the steering could lock up and/or the vehicle could have brake failure. I had it towed 1 hour to the dealer. …

I believe there is an issue with the DC to DC converter. Had an incident when the vehicle was idling for at 30 mins while cleaning snow in driveway after a storm. I received an warning battery low. As thought this was odd I turned it off. waited a few hours returned and the warning was gone. I had JLR dealer look at the issue. I was told the main battery was faulty and replaced, this was in end of DEC 2025. Then weeks later [around Jan 18th 2026] when it was really cold out and driving to JFK airport. while in route i received an very generic electrical system fault warning. As i was leaving 1 of the terminals at JFK. on the exit ramp of the terminal I had complete electrical failure was lucky enough to be able to be able to pull to shoulder, but was coasting about 1-2 mph, and stop. …

On 4/2/2026, my DC to DC converter failed in my 2022 Landrover Defender (owned 3 months, purchased pre-owned from dealer), which short-circuited both my 12V battery and my telemetric safety battery (location services, and emergency calls). The vehicle lost all power, completely malfunctioned electrically losing ability to accelerate, power steering, and everything went dark in the vehicle while driving on a highway. I immediately tried to get it to the shoulder but it lost momentum and stopped in the lane, with cars and semis coming around a blind corner at speed. It was a harrowing experience, the car started to roll backwards (on a slight incline, as it was a mountain pass) and a semi truck had to assist in stopping the vehicle by skillfully, using his trailer to stop the vehicle. This created body damage to the entire side of my vehicle. …

The DC converter on our 2022 Land Rover Defender 110 failed. We received some electrical fault notices that would come and go inconsistently a few days before the incident. Land Rover told us to drive the car to the dealer to get repaired, even when we asked whether that was safe. On the way to the dealer, the car completely turned off in the middle of traffic and became a brick and had to be towed in negative degree weather to the dealer where it has sat for a month today. The car shutdown/lost control on Rt 1 in Massachusetts and was fortunately able to steer off the road into a parking lot before it became a brick in the middle of a parking lot, not in a spot or anything. The dealer expects this is a DC converter problem but the car is a complete brick and cannot turn on or be moved around at the dealer until the part arrives. …

Vehicle display provided warning of Electrical Fault and shorty thereafter the vehicle "bricked" ie. became entirely inoperable. I was able to jump start the engine but as soon as the vehicle was disconnected from the jumping power source the vehicle's engine shut down. The vehicle was towed to the dealership. The tech with the towing truck jump started the vehicle and noted the problem appeared to be with the alternator (ie. excessive draw on the power source). The dealership has tentatively diagnosed the problem as the DC-DC converter which serves as the alternator in this vehicle. The part has been back ordered for quite some time. The failure of this component seems to be a widespread issue with a number of Land Rover models.

Related recalls

Electrical complaints in other Defender years