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Automobile: electric batteries, new targets for thieves
Automobile: electric batteries, new targets for thieves – (France 2)
In car dealerships, a series of thefts of batteries from hybrid vehicles is causing concern. Thefts were particularly noted in the West. These batteries cost thousands of euros each.
It’s a new kind of loot: an electric battery. The piece, weighing 30 to 40 kilos, has become very coveted. Last week, at night, thieves entered a concession by cutting the fence. They stole eight batteries and ransacked the vehicles. The damage is estimated at 100,000 euros, according to the manager. A series of concessions have been targeted in the west of France in recent months, such as in Noyal-Pontivy (Morbihan), Lucé (Eure-et-Loir) and Caen (Calvados). Most of the vehicles were Toyota brand.
Batteries resold whole, according to an expert
The police take the phenomenon seriously. “The theft of essential elements of a car is a theft that we often see in a fairly targeted manner, and the theft of a battery is a theft with significant damage, almost 3,000 euros in damage for each battery”, explains commissioner Edouard Malis. Inside these batteries, we find lithium, cobalt or even nickel, but depending on Arnaud Aymé, automotive expert at SIA Partners, traffickers don’t bother to dismantle them. He explains that the interest is rather to “resell the entire used battery”. In 2023, sales of hybrid vehicles will increase by 34%.
