http://abc7news.com/news/exclusive-car-battery-thefts-from-hybrid-cars-on-the-rise-in-san-francisco-/725532/
Nice. Just waiting to hear about the first thief squished under a Model S battery as he lies beneath the car and undoes all the bolts :scared:
Aren't Tesla batteries electrically ID'd? Even if there were a way to swap the battery without going through Tesla, the first Supercharger it was plugged into could notice it, although I don't know if they currently read the ID. I wonder if CHAdeMo or SAE Combo has anything like that?
It would seem impossible to steal a Model S battery without putting the car on a lift and knowing exactly how to remove it safely. And then you have to move it without damaging it. Somehow I'm not too worried about thieves stealing Tesla batteries.
And plus I bet Tesla can disable a car with a stolen battery via a software update or refuse to service a car with a stolen battery. Better yet extract the stolen battery, hand it over to the police, and ask the owner to pick up the car sans battery
In case of the Model S' battery, it would be easier to steal the entire car and then sell it in parts. The battery can actually be removed very save. Just one plug and play connector. You can't even get electrocuted. But the weight make it totally impractical.
OK, I mean no offense to anyone living there, but is SFO like CA's ghetto or what? There's keying incidents, this, the angst over money moving in. Just seems like most times I see a negative issue here about CA, it's linked to SFO. I visited there a few times, and while not the most opulent of areas, I didn't get the vibe it was in disarray or anything. Perhaps just a small sample size here? New Tesla Keyed and Vandalized Tech Rides Are Focus of Hostility in Bay Area Vandalized twice - Bigotry is alive and well on San Francisco Peninsula
There are a lot of Teslas in the San Francisco area (I live there). Online news sources and bloggers love to get attention and traffic by writing about anything with the word "Tesla" in it. That is the explanation. Nothing more than that.
Higher ground clearance makes it easier to get under a car. Model X battery pack could be a bit more at risk compared to Model S...
I'm not saying you're wrong about bloggers and such, but two of the linked threads are OWNERS posting their experience. In the tech rides thread, a local chimed in as well. *shrug* just wondered if there was an ongoing issue in the area.
I don't really see the connection between the threads you posted and this. Those are about various resentments. This is just professional thieves having found a profitable new angle, and has nothing to do with the Prius per se, except that it has a battery that is valuable.