NHTSA Complaint #11054604 — 2014 TOYOTA PRIUS V

TOYOTA ISSUED SAFETY RECALLS E0E AND F0R FOR THE FAILURE OF THE HYBRID INVERTER. IF THE INVERTER HAD NOT FAILED YET, THE TOYOTA'S REMEDY IS A 'SOFTWARE RE-FLASH'. THE SOFTWARE REFLASH 'REMEDY' IS NOT SUFFICIENT. THERE HAVE BEEN AN EXCESSIVE NUMBER OF INVERTER FAILURES AFTER THE SOFTWARE RE-FLASH 'REMEDY' FOR THESE RECALLS HAS BEEN COMPLETED. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS TO DRIVERS, AS IT LEADS TO UNINTENDED DECELERATION ' THE PRIUS SPONTANEOUSLY ENTERING 'LIMP-HOME MODE' OR EVEN A 'HYBRID SYSTEM SHUT DOWN'. THIS IS DANGEROUS AS IN RESULTS IN DRASTIC REDUCTIONS, IF NOT THE COMPLETE LOSS, OF POWER. THESE UNINTENDED DECELERATION OCCURRENCES PREDOMINANTLY HAPPEN WHILE THE VEHICLES ARE IN MOTION ' MANY TIMES AT HIGH SPEEDS. BETWEEN ONLY TWO DEALERSHIPS, WE HAVE DOCUMENTED APPROXIMATELY 100 INVERTER FAILURES AFTER THE E0E AND F0R SOFTWARE REFLASH 'REMEDY' HAS BEEN COMPLETED. DURING ONE INVERTER FAILURE, WHICH TOOK PLACE AFTER RECEIVING THE E0E SOFTWARE RE-FLASH, EXCESSIVE HEAT WAS GENERATED WITHIN THE INVERTER THAT MELTED STEEL BOLTS AND CREATED AN ELECTRICAL ARC THAT BLASTED TWO HOLES THROUGH THE ALUMINUM CASE OF THE INVERTER ASSEMBLY. THE DRIVER STATED IF SHE HAD EXPERIENCED THIS FAILURE WHILE ON THE FREEWAY, 'SHE WOULDN'T BE HERE ANYMORE.' THE VEHICLE WAS A 2012 MODEL YEAR AND AT THE TIME OF THE FAILURE IT HAD ONLY 31,222 MILES ON IT. INSTANCES OF UNINTENDED DECELERATION WILL CONTINUE TO GROW DAILY UNTIL TOYOTA IMPLEMENTS A SUFFICIENT REMEDY THAT WILL PREVENT THESE LOSSES OF POWER FROM OCCURRING. ATTACHED PLEASE FIND A REPORT DETAILING, FOR ONLY TWO DEALERSHIPS, THE INVERTER FAILURES WE'VE EXPERIENCED AFTER THE E0E AND F0R SOFTWARE RE-FLASH REMEDIES HAVE BEEN COMPLETED. ALSO ATTACHED, PLEASE FIND THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE INVERTER WHICH EXPERIENCED THE ELECTRICAL ARC. PLEASE CONSIDER THAT "DATE THIS HAPPENED" AS THE FILING DATE OF THIS REPORT. *JS