Despite government subsidies, mandates and promotion, demand for electric vehicles (EVs) is still so low that car thieves don’t think they’re worth stealing – but, if they are stolen, they’ll cost more to replace than traditional, gas-powered vehicles.
While the Biden-Harris Administration provides tax credits to people who buy electric vehicles, there are no such incentives for those who might steal them. A record number of vehicles were stolen in the U.S., but electric vehicles were far less likely to be stolen, a Highway Loss Data Institute analysis of insured vehicles model years 2021-23 finds.
Four of the six vehicles with the lowest frequencies of theft are electric, with Tesla models accounting for half of those, according to the study. In fact, all three of the vehicles with the lowest odds of being stolen were Teslas, with one model rating the safest from theft – by far:
“The Tesla Model 3 electric four-door 4WD, a midsize luxury car, had the lowest whole vehicle theft claim frequency at just 1% of the all-passenger-vehicle average.”
The study found that the six models with the lowest frequency of theft were:
- Tesla Model 3 electric 4dr 4WD
- Tesla Model Y electric 4dr 4WD
- Tesla Model 3 electric 4dr
- Hyundai Tucson Hybrid 4dr 4WD
- Volvo XC90 4dr 4WD
- Ford Mustang Mach-E 4dr 4WD
Meanwhile, the gas-powered Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat SUV had the highest vehicle theft claim frequency – “nearly 53 times the all-passenger-vehicle average” – according to the report.
“It’s not just consumers who are turning up their noses at EVs - even the criminals can’t be bothered to steal them, and who can blame them,” Power The Future Executive Director Daniel Turner said, reacting to the report’s findings.
“EVs are expensive, unreliable and confusing — not to mention heavier and more damaging to roads and infrastructure than their traditional counterparts.”
“If (Vice President) Kamala Harris wants to get serious about cracking down on crime, her EV mandate might just be the way to go," Turner added, mocking the Democrat presidential candidate’s desire to impose electric vehicles on U.S. consumers.
When an EV is stolen, it’ll cost more to replace it with another one, compared to an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle of the same category, Edmunds reports:
“An unpleasant truth about EVs is that they almost always have higher retail prices than their internal combustion engine (ICE) counterparts. In the first quarter of this year, there was a 42% gap in the average price of an electric car vs. a gas car.”
By category, average MSRP price gaps ranged from $8,237 for Compact Cars (ICE: $26,301, EV: $34,538) to $23,130 for Midsize SUVs (ICE: $48,916, EV: $72,046).
“While dealers are ready to sell and service EVs, this type of vehicle is currently only 7.1% of the new car market, as many Americans cannot afford or conveniently charge an EV,” the National Automobile Dealers Association explained in a recent press statement opposing the Biden-Harris Administration’s EV mandates.