If you drive a Prius from the past several years, there’s a distinct chance you’ll have to take it in for service. Autoblog reports that Toyota has begun a safety recall for 752,000 of the vehicles worldwide, 267,000 of them in the US, due to a flaw in the hybrid software for 2013-2015 standard Prius cars and 2014-2017 Prius V models. The machines won’t kick into a failsafe mode “in rare situations” if the hybrid system fails, forcing the gas engine to lose power and stall — a significant problem if you’re on the highway.
The fix will involve a free software update at the dealership, plus an inverter fix if that component failed as a result of the glitch. Drivers will be notified by late August.