Electric scooters facing battery theft in this country

Electric scooter owners in Italy are facing a growing menace, the thieves are targeting the batteries of these EVs, reports Moto.It. The report claims that recently 12 people have been recently arrested in Milan in Italy for stealing the batteries of electric scooters. It also reveals that shared vehicles such as electric bicycles and e-scooters are the most affected. The thieves claimed to dismantle the cells and sell them on the black market or in the reconditioned second-hand market, most of the time to the buyers looking for replacement batteries for their own electric vehicles and oblivious to the fact that the batteries they are buying are stolen ones.

The report claims that around 700 battery packs from electric vehicles have been stolen in the country between 2020 and 2021. One of the most popular electric scooter sharing companies in Italy, City Scoot has reported a high number of battery theft in 2020. The company reported around 600 batteries have been stolen, which cost around 600,000 Euros, as each battery pack costs around 1,000 Euros.

With the electric vehicles' demands and popularity rising, especially in the two-wheeler segment, chances are that the theft of battery packs is going to see a rise in numbers. The increase of battery swapping technology in order to keep the ownership cost of electric vehicles affordable is another factor that is drawing the attention of battery thieves.

Vehicle theft and vehicle parts theft have always been menace in the global automotive industry. Now with the change in the powertrain technology, the focus has shifted from petrol or diesel-powered internal combustion engines to electric motors and battery packs.