The Recall Desk
HighNHTSA·23V041000·Announced 2023-02-02

2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime Engine Stall in Cold Weather Driving

Toyota is recalling certain 2021 RAV4 Prime vehicles due to a software defect that may cause engine stall during cold-weather driving. Dealers will provide a free software update.

What this means for you

Real risk of harm even if no illness or injury has been reported yet. Stop using the product and follow the agency's guidance.

Our severity reasoning: The software defect creates a real hazard of engine stalls during driving, which directly increases crash risk. No injuries, crashes, or serious incidents have been reported, meeting the rubric criterion for risk-of-harm products where injury has not yet been reported.

Plain-English summary

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing is recalling certain 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid vehicles. These vehicles contain a software defect in the hybrid vehicle control engine control unit (HEV ECU) that affects the hybrid management system.

During cold weather driving conditions, when operating in EV Mode, the defective software may cause the hybrid system to shut down if the accelerator is rapidly pressed for acceleration. This results in engine stall, which increases the risk of a vehicle crash.

Approximately 16,679 vehicles are potentially affected by this defect.

Dealers will update the HEV ECU software free of charge. Toyota expected to begin mailing owner notification letters on February 27, 2023. Owners may contact Toyota's customer service at 1-800-331-4331 for more information, or call the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236.

The recalled product

Product
2021 TOYOTA RAV4 PRIME
Brand
TOYOTA
Manufacturer
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing
Category
Vehicle — Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle
Hazard
  • engine-stall
  • loss-of-control
Affected units
16,679

Is your product affected?

Check your packaging against the codes below. If any of them match, the product is part of this recall.

Model numbers (1)

  • RAV4 PRIME

Distribution

Distributed nationwide across the United States.

Related recalls

Same brand · TOYOTA

Same category