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Thieves in San Francisco Stealing Prius Batteries

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Prius with stolen battery

Chances are pretty good that you at least know someone who has experienced the raw horror that accompanies getting into your car to find that someone has gone in and taken your stuff. Now imagine that someone has gotten into your Prius and stolen the battery.

*sweats intensify*

According to ABC7, a number of motorists in San Francisco have reported the theft of the battery packs in their hybrids. This is an extremely unusual objective for thieves, particularly given that the batteries are around 150 pounds and take at least 20 minutes to extract correctly.

While replacement batteries for a Toyota Prius run about $2,500, the thieves appear to be listing their spoils on eBay for a little bit less than half the price. John Nashed, who had his Prius broken into earlier this month, says that he found batteries listed on Craigslist shortly after the break-in going for $900 to $1,000.

It proves difficult to track down and identify pilfered batteries as they bear no individual VIN, but Toyota says that it is looking into ways to preventing drivers from having to undergo the same difficulties in the future.

News Source: ABC7