Toyota has offered to test Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak’s Prius after he claimed the vehicle’s electronics can cause it accelerate unintentionally.

Wozniak’s claims made headlines when he claimed his 2010 Prius’ accelerator “goes wild” under certain conditions. He says he can repeat the acceleration issue and suspected the Prius’ software as the culprit.

Toyota has long maintained is the acceleration problem is not a electronics-related issue. The Prius is not included in the company’s recent recall, however, so if Wozniak’s suspicions prove true, Toyota’s problems can only get worse.

Toyota, already under a storm for its trouble with unintended acceleration, is trying to contain the PR damage by offering to have a dealer borrow and test Wozniak’s Prius for a week. Toyota is trying to get Wozniak in touch with U.S. sales president Jim Lentz to help make arrangements.

[Source: Jalopnik]

The Prius hybrid has not been affected by the recent 2.3 million vehicle recall by Toyota for unintended acceleration, but according to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak it probably should be. Wozniak, a man who knows a thing or two about software, recently spoke openly about a “unintended acceleration” problem with his new 2010 Prius, which he described as, “very scary.”

Toyota recently announced a mechanical fix for its sticky accelerator pedals and has denied that the issue is caused by the engine control unit (ECU), despite claims that the ECU is the cause.

“After man years of exhaustive testing we have not found any evidence of an electronic [software] problem that would have led to unwanted acceleration,” said John Hanson, the national manager in charge of environmental safety and quality communications at Toyota.

Wozniak, a man who knows a thing or two about software, says the car, “has an accelerator that goes wild but only under certain conditions of cruise control.” He also claims he can repeat the acceleration issue. “This is software. It’s not a bad accelerator pedal,” he says.

Wozniak claims he has tried to get in touch with Toyota and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), but has had no response. We’re sure he’ll get a response now.

[Source: CNET]