2 precise, interesting questions on the acceleration issue

To my knowledge there was never an issue with the Gen II and unintended acceleration that has been brought up on this forum until recently. None that were quanlifiable anyway.

 

So far as I know, these are all facts.

1) No Prius is suspected of the binding accelerator pedal issue, that seems to be only models made in North America with North American parts, all Prius are made in Japan using Japanese made pedals.

2) 2004-2009 Prius have a recall out for floormats, Toyota does not think the 2010 is susceptible to the floormat issue. Toyota's long term fix will be to shorten the pedals so they cannot reach the floormats.

3) 2010 had a brake software update recently, not involving any actual acceleration issues. (owners may perceive a loss of braking as acceleration, however)

4) We await the first reproducible Prius Unintended Acceleration due to design flaws. There have been incidents of honest error, and incidents which appear less than honest. One researcher has found a way to generate UA, if two separate short circuits occur in the wiring. There is no example of either short circuit discovered 'in the wild' yet.

5) For Toyota made products, there has been a statistically very high number of UA reports. Toyota stopped sales on 8 models (not Prius) to fix binding pedals. One long term fix proposed for this is a brake override, so if the brake is applied after the throttle, it reduces or idles power, both the 2004 to 2009 and the 2010 Prius already have a version of this software.

 

Just an addendum on Jimbopalmer's item #4...

The researcher who induced UA by causing two short circuits in the wiring did it on a normal gasoline-only car (an Avalon).

The Prius has a totally different drivetrain and control system due to its hybrid nature. Whatever Gilbert did to induce the UA in an Avalon shouldn't apply to a Prius.

 

As stated the Prius is not subject to any UA recall - here is the official site for all the Toyota recalls:
Toyota Recall
Toyota takes care of its customers Read the FAQs at Toyota.com
Toyota.com/Recall

 

Echoing the previous comments:

1. No for the 2010. Nor have they been able to replicate it with the Gen II models.

2. The consensus is that there is no physical problem, other than the driver. We have a few PC members that insist that there is a real problem, a coverup conspiracy, and such, but they are a very small minority.

Tom