As reported yesterday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received about 100 complaints involving the brakes of the 2010 Toyota Prius, adding to the Japanese automakers headaches of a global recall of nearly 4.5 million vehicles for faulty accelerator pedals.
Toyota confirmed today that there was a design problem with the brakes of its Prius and that it found the issue with the antilock brake system and corrected them for Prius models sold since late January. Toyota said that the company was still investigating how to inform customers who had bought the hybrid before it fixed the braking issue.
Company spokesman, Paul Nolasco, said that the lag in the brakes felt by drivers stems from two systems in a gas-electric hybrid, the engine and the electric motor. He said that when the car moves on a bumpy or slippery surface, the driver can feel a pause in the braking when the vehicle switches from hybrid mode to gasoline mode.
Whether Toyota will issue a recall is still undecided.
- By: Omar Rana
Source: Detroit News
