Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (battery, alternator, wiring, ignition, instrument cluster, infotainment).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2001 Toyota Prius owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Tl contact owns a 2001 Toyota Prius. While driving 65 MPH, the vehicle lost all power and all of the instrument panel lights illuminated. The vehicle began to lose speed and the contact was able to safely maneuver it to the shoulder. While on the shoulder, the vehicle restarted without warning and reversed full throttle into the guard rail. The contact sustained head and eye injuries and a broken rib. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and they performed a diagnostic, which did not produce any error codes. The failure could not be duplicated. The body damage was repaired at the cost of $500, but the failure was not corrected. The manufacturer stated that if a failure occurred, the vehicle would correct itself and would not display any failure codes to determine the cause of the failure. …
My car is experiencing what is known onlline as "the big hand syndrom". While driving, the accelerator pedal changes resistance and it feels like someone grabs the car and it dramatically slows. You then have to press harder on the accelerator pedal to maintain speed. Well one day, the car stopped working, no matter how hard I pressed on the pedal it would no accelerate. I was on the highway. I took my car in to the local authorized Toyota dealer and was told that the accelerator pedal was bad and needed to be replaced. We replaced the pedal and experienced the same issues, and replaced the accelerator pedal again. I'm still experiencing the same issuses and the Toyota dealer said theres nothing they can do except keep replacing the pedal cause thats the code it is throwing up. This is a major safety issue for my vehicle as I can and do lose acceleration at any given time. …
2001 Prius was parked in garage ~6hrs, fire started and smoldered, apparently using up oxygen inside the car. I went in the garage for something else, noticed the headlights were on and opened the car door to turn them off. When the door was opened, acrid smoke poured out, and the fire was given fresh oxygen, and it took off. Windshield cracked from heat, left front dash melted. Fire dept put out the fire quickly, but the car is ruined and the cause unknown. Thankfully no damage to garage, house or people. I had smelled a funny smell hours before, but thought it was something outside, so the fire had been smoldering for some time. Lights apparently went on because the fire/heat had shorted something.
Tl* the contact owns a 2001 Toyota Prius. While driving 20 MPH, the vehicle lost complete power and braking ability without warning. As a result, the contact drove over the median aand crashed into a pole. The air bags deployed. A police report was filed. There were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer (titus-will Toyota, 3506 s sprague ave, tacoma, wa 98409). The vehicle was not declared destroyed. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage and VIN were unknown.
Tl contact owns a 2001 Toyota Prius. The contact walked outside and noticed that the vehicle's windows were black. She opened the door and smoke billowed out of the vehicle. She shut the door and called the fire department. The weather was dry and sunny. The purchase date and powertrain were unknown. The current and failure mileages were 79,000.
My car (2001 Prius) was at a dealership (marina del rey Toyota) for service. While parked, with no one inside and the ignition off, the main propulsion battery caught fire and burned through the vehicle interior, causing a total loss. Toyota blames the fire on a battery defect.
Dt: vehicle stalled/died, and lost power while driving 5 MPH. Throttle body module failed. There was a NHTSA recall but this involved a chemical in the pruis car battery. L. Yes. Car has broke down several times since. The stalling is still a problem.
The following has happened on 4 different occasions, 3 times I have been driving on the interstate several hundred miles from home at speeds of 65 to 70 miles per hour. On these occasions the dashboard warning lights have come on and the gasoline engine shuts down. The vehicle's electric motor will continue operating in a limited capacity, so I can steer to the side of the road. The engine will start working again when I try to restart the vehicle, but not for a considerable amount of time, this has been very frightening, as I am usually alone in the car. The last time this happened I had to wait approximately 30 minutes on the side of the road at dusk before the car started again. I had called several tow trucks, but they told me they could not come for another 45 minutes to 2 hours as they were that busy. …
Hv battery failure, prior to failure of hv battery vehicle exhibited error codes indicating that at least two battery modules had a greater than 1.2 volts between max module voltage and min module voltage (hv battery consist of 38 battery modules 7.2 volts each). However, vehicle still operated although in a fail safe mode (no cruise control in fail safe mode, etc). Upon attempting to start vehicle heard loud explosive pop sound and vehicle would then not start. After removal and disassembly the hv battery pack I discovered tha two battery modules, out of the total of 38, had a circular burn between their ajoining plastic cases and the top of one of the two modules had exploded open -- exposing the battery plates inside (both burned cells no longer measured 7.2 volts, but about 0.32 volts). …
I own a 2001 Prius purchased July of 2001 my wife and I have had a near stall so many times we have lost count. The first time was in the first week of purchase 2001 and we have had the car checked and have been told they cannot find the problem since they can not recreate the problem. I guess we have been lucky our Prius does not stall completely just slows to 15-37 miles per then we have to stop and wait for the lights to clear. It has gotten to the point where this is happening almost daily. The last time we took it in for service and had them check to find the problem they did not inform us that there has been a problem all along. We love the car as far as mileage and enjoy driving the Prius. We have always spoken highly of the Toyota corporation but we are getting rather annoyed they cannot fix our problem or the problems of other pruis owners. …
NHTSA investigations
Pedestrian alert sounds
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles.
Electrical complaints in other Prius years
Frequently asked questions
How common are electrical problems on the 2001 Toyota Prius?
NHTSA has 27 complaints about the electrical system of the 2001 Toyota Prius, 16% of the model year's 165 complaints. The component named most often is 12v/24v/48v battery (4 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2001 Toyota Prius electrical problems?
No. NHTSA lists no electrical system recall for the 2001 Toyota Prius, though it has 3 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2001 Toyota Prius electrical problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 64,000 miles, and 15% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 3 crashes, 3 fires and 1 injury to electrical system problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.