Why thieves aren’t touching electric cars

Electric vehicles (EVs) are far less likely to be stolen by thieves due to their advanced tracking and security technology and the lack of demand for their parts on the black market.

That is according to the US’s National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) and Institute for Highway Safety (IHS).

A concerned reader recently contacted MyBroadband following our article explaining the benefits of vehicle-to-load (V2L) on the BYD Atto 3.

V2L is one of several types of bidirectional charging and allows EV users to consume energy from their battery packs to power multiple appliances.

An electric car’s lithium-ion battery pack typically has between 50kWh and 80kWh of capacity, over ten times the size of an entry-level home backup battery.

The reader was concerned that this capability and the valuable battery itself, which can make up as much as 40% of the car’s manufacturing cost, could make EVs an attractive target for car thieves.

That concern may be informed by the rampant theft of backup batteries from mobile network towers in South Africa over the past few years.

Fortunately, stealing an EV and its highly-engineered battery pack is far more complex than stealing a backup battery intended for stationary use.

Despite conducting a thorough search for such reports, MyBroadband could not find a single account of a case in which an EV owner had their car’s battery pack removed by thieves.

Thefts of EVs are also far less common than those of petrol or diesel models.

In the US, the IHS found that four of the six least-stolen vehicles in 2023 were EVs.

Tesla’s most affordable EV — the Model 3 — accounted for just one in every 100,000 insured vehicles reported stolen.

The NICB told Axios although EV thefts had increased over time, they were still very low compared to petrol car thefts.

The first obvious reason that EVs are not commonly stolen is that there is little demand for them or their parts on the black market.

Like in South Africa, many of the cars stolen in the US are taken across the border and end up in less developed countries.

These cars are very difficult and expensive to track down once they are in foreign territories, unless those country’s authorities co-operate closely with the victim government’s police and insurers.

Fortunately, many of the hotspot countries for stolen car imports have little to no public charging infrastructure, detracting from the appeal of an EV.

In addition, the syndicates that typically steal cars are yet as familiar with their security systems as with petrol or diesel cars.

Experts believe advanced technology, including built-in GPS tracking, could be another key factor in reducing EV thefts.

While many modern cars feature advanced security and tracking systems, EVs are by their very nature at the cutting edge of technology.

Even on the rare occasions that they are stolen, Tesla’s cars are the most likely to be recovered.

Between 2011 and early 2018, 112 of the 115 Teslas stolen in the US were recovered, working out to a 97% recovery rate.

Over the same period, the overall recovery rate of stolen insured vehicles was less than 60%.

Tesla is particularly well known for its connected car features, which allow for extensive remote control and vehicle monitoring.

The manufacturer also has a Sentry Mode, which acts like a digital car guard that actively monitors and alerts app users of any potential unauthorised entry into the vehicle.

The capability is supported by several external and internal cameras, which record video in and around the car for as long as Sentry Mode is activated.

If the car detects that someone is trying to break in, it will turn on interior lights and flash exterior lights, honk the horn repeatedly, and play dramatic classical and heavy metal music loudly with its exterior speakers.

Although Tesla is not yet selling its cars in South Africa, rival EV brands like BYD offer similar intelligent anti-theft features.

The video below explains how the Tesla Sentry Mode works.

No smash-and-grab for EV batteries

Assuming thieves eventually become more interested in EVs for their battery packs, they will have significant challenges in taking them out of the car.

It is possible to repurpose a battery pack so that it can be used for home backup and other applications.

However, according to EVBox, the average EV battery weighs around 454kg.

For reference, a 5kWh backup battery like those installed in mobile base stations weighs around 40kg, making it much more portable.

Secondly, the battery cells are typically spread out in a secure enclosure spanning the car’s entire floor.

That enclosure is typically well sealed with numerous bolts or screws to prevent ingress of dust and water. These often require special tools to remove.

Due to the weight and positioning of the battery, it would be near impossible to strip at the location of the theft and will likely require driving to a chop shop.

Once there, it must be put on a lift to provide access to the battery

Even if the EV comes with a swappable battery pack, which is not the case for most models in the market and all sold in South Africa, it could take several hours to remove.

Furthermore, EV batteries have high-voltage electrical cables, which, if not handled with the necessary care and patience, could cause serious injury or death.

All these factors increase the time thieves require to detach the battery from the car — which is likely to have built-in location tracking — putting them at far greater risk of capture than if they stole an untraceable standalone backup battery.

While there have reportedly been several EV battery thefts in Italy in the recent past, these appear to be taken primarily from hybrids, which have smaller and lighter battery packs that are often located underneath seats, making them far easier to access.