New thieves target Toyota Prius batteries that sell on the black market

It seems that the emergence of electric vehicles and hybrids has added all sorts of hackers the opportunity to earn. Last week in San Francisco several Prius owners told the police about the theft of batteries from their cars. In this case, the police said that the number of such incidents is gradually increasing.

And this despite the fact that the weight of the battery is approximately 55 kilograms, and the time of removal of the battery by a certified specialist is about an hour. But the thieves cope in just 20 minutes. Why steal batteries? In order to sell them on the black market to those owners of electric vehicles whose battery warranty has come to an end (this is true for the owners of the first generation Prius), while the battery has failed or is close to it.

Without warranty, replacing the battery costs about $ 3000, when contacting the official service center. A second-hand battery on the black market will cost about $ 1,000. The problem with such batteries is that they are practically unprotected - it’s almost impossible to identify where the battery comes from. Another interesting fact is that the source of stolen batteries is mainly third generation electric cars, whose batteries cannot be directly used in the first generation Prius. In order for the battery to fit, you need to make some changes in the design of the battery.
')


As mentioned above, the number of cases of battery theft increases. So, now such incidents are reported in New York, where batteries are stolen from a Prius taxi.