NHTSA reportedly eyes loss of braking power in 2010 Toyota Prius

NHTSA reportedly eyes loss of braking power in 2010 Toyota Prius

Filed under: Hybrid, Safety, Technology, Toyota

2010 Toyota Prius - Click above for high-res image gallery

2009 has not been a good year for Toyota. After getting its first full-year loss in seven decades, it faced its biggest-ever safety recall over unintended acceleration caused by floor mats and/or throttle control software. Now, as the year draws to a close, a new potential problem has sprung up. This time around, the issue is related to the braking system on the latest Prius, which debuted early this year.

The problem, which has been reported to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) by several dozen drivers, relates to a loss of deceleration when transitioning from regenerative braking to friction braking. At this time, NHTSA has not opened a full investigation but it is monitoring the situation.

This is actually quite a complicated issue, and it highlights one of the reasons why it takes automakers so long to bring cars to market. Read on after the jump for some discussion on what might be happening.


Gallery: 2010 Toyota Prius



[Source: The Detroit Bureau]Continue reading NHTSA reportedly eyes loss of braking power in 2010 Toyota Prius

NHTSA reportedly eyes loss of braking power in 2010 Toyota Prius originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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