Toyota Prius to be recalled

Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

The world’s most popular hybrid, the Toyota Prius, will soon be recalled to fix problems relating to its braking system.  The problem specifically affects the car on bumpy and slippery road surfaces, where there is a noticeable delay between pressing the brake pedal and brake actuation.   In other words: the brakes don’t brake for a split second. According to several reports, this has led to hundreds of consumer complaints and several accidents in the U.S. and Japan.

Unlike the car’s vaunted gasoline-electric drivetrain – which saves fuel by switching from a gas-powered engine to an electric motor – the Prius recall has been anything but seamless.  Millions of confused and concerned Toyota owners (upwards of 7 million) have already been subjected to two previous recalls, one for sticking gas pedals and another for faulty floor-mats.  The Prius recall will affect only the 2010 model year (built from last spring until late January, 2010, which is when Toyota says it fixed the Prius’ brake problem with a software change at the factory).

Toyota will likely announce this week that it plans to recall at least 311,000 of its 2010 Prius hybrids around the world to fix the brakes, reports Japanese media and the New York Times.

It will become Toyota’s third major recall at present, following two for unintended acceleration. But at least on this one, at least the numbers are fairly paltry compared to the eight million cars under recall around the world, more than five million of them in the U.S.

(via Toyota Prius recall could come this week, reports say – USA Today)