Prius prone to crashes Khoi Vinh 17 May 2005

3 comments Latest by Dan Boland

If it can be hacked, it can be crashed — in both senses. A few months ago, SvN pointed to a report of Prius owners hacking their hybrids for big mileage gains. Now, in a separate matter, there are indications that some Toyota Priuses from 2004 and early 2005 have been experiencing “a software problem” that causes engine stalling — a fairly nontrivial inconvenience, I’d imagine. Appropriately, the glitches were first reported via online forums. Luckily, no one was hurt, and the software can be upgraded. (Cue jokes about Prius Service Pack 1.)

3 comments so far (Jump to latest)

Robert Simplicio 18 May 05

It’s not the Service Packs I’m worried about; it’s the HotFixes. Ouch.

dmr 18 May 05

17 cars is hardly worth even talking about; the car had battery power still… A thoughtful comment on slashdot about the Prius:

“The engine shut off, the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree and the battery continued to power the car. Not surprising that you might conclude total failure from the /. posting and its exceptionally lame, MSM-like allusions to ‘crashing’…”
From: slashdot


Can someone please tell me why consumer reports says this car gets 41 to 50mpg (45avg) while Toyota says 51-60 (55avg)? Is there some flaw in how companies arrive at mpg numbers? I’m strongly considering getting a Prius, but only if I’m going to get 55mpg.

Dan Boland 18 May 05

Can someone please tell me why consumer reports says this car gets 41 to 50mpg (45avg) while Toyota says 51-60 (55avg)? Is there some flaw in how companies arrive at mpg numbers? I�m strongly considering getting a Prius, but only if I�m going to get 55mpg.

We covered this topic in the comments of this post.