Toyota recalling Prius

According to a news release, Toyota is recalling nearly 1.9 million Prius hybrid vehicles. The recall involves a software glitch that could damage transistors and cause a loss of power.

700,000 of the Priuses are in the U.S., 997,000 are in Japan, 130,000 in Europe and the rest spread out throughout the world.

The current settings “could result in higher thermal stress in certain transistors, potentially causing them to become damaged,” Toyota said. “If this happens, various warning lights will illuminate and the vehicle can enter a failsafe mode. In rare circumstances, the hybrid system might shut down while the vehicle is being driven, resulting in the loss of power and the vehicle coming to a stop.”

the company also said Wednesday they are recalling about 260,000 2012 RAV4 compact sport utility vehicles, 2012-2013 Tacoma trucks and 2012-2013 Lexus RX 350 SUVs in the U.S.

Toyota will apply an update to skid control ECU software, to fix an “electronic circuit condition” that could cause the vehicles stability control, anti-lock braking systems and traction control function to shut down intermittently. In the case of such a failure, the standard brakes will still work.

The software update will be applied free of charge at local dealers.