generates electricity to recharge the batteries . The Japanese government has warned Toyota to take seriously mounting complaints with the Prius . Toyota Vice President Shinichi Sasaki met with Japan 's transport minister on Wednesday . iReport : How are Toyota 's problems affecting you ? In Japan , 14 complaints about brakes in the Prius have been lodged since July . Japan 's Ministry of Land , Infrastructure , Transport and Tourism has asked Toyota to investigate , according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association . `` The complaints received via our dealers center around when drivers are on a bumpy road or frozen surface , '' said Paul Nolasco , a Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman in Japan . `` The driver steps on the brake , and they do not get as full of a braking feel as expected . '' Full coverage of Toyota recall In the United States , more than 100 complaints alleging poor brake performance have been lodged with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration against the 2010 Prius , a newly designed version of the car that was introduced last summer . `` NHTSA has received a number of complaints about a potential
Tokyo , Japan -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Without issuing a recall of its iconic Prius hybrid vehicles , Toyota said Thursday a software glitch is to blame for braking problems in the 2010 model . `` We would want to be given a little time , '' Hiro Yuki Yokoyama , Toyota 's managing officer , said when reporters asked whether a recall was in the works . The company changed its braking system software in January as part of what it called `` constant quality improvements , '' but did not say what it would do about vehicles manufactured before then . Toyota officials described the problem as a `` disconnect '' in the vehicle 's complex anti-lock brake system -LRB- ABS -RRB- that causes less than a one-second lag . With the delay , a vehicle going 60 mph will have traveled nearly another 90 feet before the brakes begin to take hold . Brakes in hybrids such as the Prius operate differently from brakes in most cars . In addition to standard brakes , which use friction from pads pressed against drums or rotors , the electric motors in hybrids help slow them . The process also