A Toyota Prius owner in San Francisco has just reported that her Prius was disassembled and its main hybrid battery pack stolen. Marjory Kaplan parked her 2017 Prius just down the block from her apartment in Pacific Heights.
Upon returning to her vehicle, she found her Prius’ mid-mounted central hybrid battery pack stolen. This is the battery pack that supplies power to the hybrid-electric system and not the auxiliary functions under the hood.
The battery pack weighs about 82 kilograms and is worth around USD5,000 (MR21,000) and adding the damage done from removing the pack, Kaplan is looking at a possible USD10,000 (RM42,000) repair bill.
Is this repair covered by your insurance? Probably not as insurance covers car theft, as in the whole car and not parts of the car.
Battery pack thefts have been on the rise since ABC7 News first reported on this occurance back in 2015.
The battery packs are resold on the black market, which harks back to the days when thieves stole catalytic converters from new vehicles to extract the expensive precious metals inside.
But what is different and alarming about this theft is that no windows or doors were forcefully damaged during the break-in.
Rather, a small rear window was removed to gain access. This is a clear indication that the battery pack thieves are professionals who know what they’re doing.
“It’s very well organized” Jeff Garcia, a Toyota mechanic, told KRON4-TV. Garcia said his shop is in the middle of repairing four other Prius cars whose battery packs were stolen in a similar manner.
“It’s not just the battery they’re stealing, they’re damaging all the harnesses and everything else around the batteries. Even the seatbelts are being cut.”
“Had I been lucky enough just to have the small window broken and the spare change taken, I would have been very happy” laments Kaplan.
A street-view security camera is mounted nearby, but unfortunately it is pointed the wrong way, so Kaplan doesn’t expect much to happen.
She also plans to sell off her car after the repair and has decided to depend on public transportation.
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