Saturday, October 15, 2005

Hybrid-engine glitch forces Toyota to recall 75,000 Priuses

By James F. Peltz / Los Angeles Times

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In what is believed to be the first recall of a hybrid car for problems with the gas-electric engine, Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it plans to notify about 75,000 owners of its hot-selling Prius about a potential software glitch that could cause the car to stall or shut down.

The voluntary recall of slightly more than half of the Priuses built the last two years dented the generally good reliability record of the car, whose sales have jumped as drivers sought better fuel economy in the face of soaring gasoline prices.

But Toyota and analysts said they did not expect the problem to slow sales of the Prius or hybrid vehicles in general, noting that glitches were likely to develop as production of hybrids increased.

"It is a new technology and they will be forgiven," said Jim Hossack, a consultant at the research firm AutoPacific Inc. in Tustin, Calif. "This will come and go."

The software problem first came to light in May when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it was investigating gripes from Prius owners about engine stalls and shutdowns.

"We have a total of 428 complaints, but no crashes or injuries," said NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson. He said Toyota made the decision to contact owners to fix the problem, which involves 2004 and early 2005 models.

"We're satisfied that their remedy is going to take care of the problem," Tyson said. As a result, "we intend to close our investigation" and Toyota is "to be commended" for the voluntary recall.

Although there have been two other recalls of the Prius, neither involved the hybrid-engine system. The system uses complex electronics and computer programming to make the car's separate gas engine and electric motor work together. Tyson said this appeared to be the first recall directly related to hybrid-engine technology.

Toyota will notify Prius owners by mail to take the car to a dealership for free repairs, said Allison Takahashi, a spokeswoman at Toyota's Torrance, Calif.-based U.S. operation.

"Most of the time it's just a warninglight coming on," she said, but the gasoline portion of the gas-electric hybrid engine "occasionally" cuts off.

If there is a stall, "you still have your electric motor and your brakes and your steering, so the driver can pull over" away from traffic, Takahashi said.

Introduced in the United States five years ago, the Prius triggered the popularity of hybrid vehicles, especially in 2005 as gasoline prices surged to $3 a gallon. Demand is so high that some dealerships have waiting lists.

The federal government credits the Prius with a fuel economy rating of 60 miles per gallon in city driving and 51 mpg on the highway, although automotive reviewers typically report average fuel economy of 40 to 48 miles per gallon in everyday use. It recently was rated No. 2 in gas mileage among cars sold in the United States, after the Honda Insight.

Toyota sold 53,991 Prius cars in 2004 and 81,042 through Sept. 30 of this year, and the automaker expects to sell 110,000 for all of 2005. New models have a base price of $21,275 but often sell for thousands of dollars more due to the strong demand.