Toyota will recall more than half of Prius vehicles ever sold to fix a software glitch that could slow down or even bring the car to a halt. The recall involves approximately 1.9 million vehicles produced globally since March 2009, according to company spokesman Brian Lyons.
That’s roughly half of the overall Prius production, as 3.6 million units Prius vehicles have been sold since the model’s release in 1997. However, the recalled cars are only from the third generation Prius.
The reason for the recall is a flaw with the software in the Prius’s hybrid system that may cause some parts to overheat in certain driving situations such as accelerating from a stop. This can result in the car entering a failsafe mode, where it can still be driven while at reduced power. However, in some limited cases, the hybrid system could shut down and cause the vehicle to stop.
Toyota says it hasn’t received any reports of accidents or injuries related to the software problem.
Prius aside, Toyota said it would recall about 260,000 other vehicles in the U.S. in a separate issue with the 2012 and 2013 model years of the Toyota Tacoma pickup, the Lexus RX 350 and the 2012 Toyota RAV4 SUVs. In these vehicles, a software issue can cause their stability, anti-lock braking and traction controls to intermittently turn off, although the standard braking operation in those vehicles would remain fully functional.
This latest Prius recall reminds of Toyota’s massive recalls from 2009-2010, when more than 10 million vehicles were recalled for problems related to unintended acceleration.
By Dan Mihalascu
Story References: Bloomberg
PHOTO GALLERY
