Daring Thieves Targeting the Toyota Prius For Its Hybrid Battery

Fancy wheels, air bags and catalytic converters have long been targets for car thieves who specialize in expensive parts. Now there’s a new hot item for some daring burglars: The battery packs from hybrid vehicles, specifically the Toyota Prius.

According to KGO-TV, these crimes are becoming prevalent around the San Francisco area, with many local Toyota dealers reporting that they’ve each had “five or six″ customers bring in their Priuses for stolen battery pack — enough of a rash that replacements are now in short supply.

Why the Prius? Well, early generation Prii are seeing their 8-year/100,000-mile (or 10-year/150,000-mile, if you live in a state that adopts California’s emissions regulations) battery warranty come to an end. This means demand for replacement batteries is rising, and while costs can reach close to $3,000 for a new one, used batteries on Craigslist go for around $500-$1,000. 

But stealing one is not like looting a catalytic converter, or replacing wheels with cinder blocks. The battery pack weighs around 120 pounds and could easily electrocute the careless. In these cases, the thieves — who many believe are part of the same group due to similar techniques used to remove the battery — smash the rear windows, cut all the connecting wires (according to one Toyota dealer, the battery does not give off power when the car is off), and rip the battery and its corresponding modules out of the trunk.

The criminals in the Bay Area aren’t shy about what they’re doing: Pro Speed Auto Body Shop told us one of the cars they repaired recently had its battery boosted while parked on a busy street, right outside a church. The estimated cost to repair the damage? A cool $7,000; the thieves not only get the battery, but damage many expensive-to-replace wiring components in the process.

A San Francisco area Toyota dealer told Yahoo Autos that removing a battery correctly would typically take over an hour for a highly trained mechanic; we’re told these thieves tore the 273-volt unit out in around 20 minutes.