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Auto thefts saw another massive drop in occurrences last year, with the number of cars reported stolen in 2025 falling 23% compared to 2024 — and that's on top of the 17% percent decline in 2024 versus 2023. Those were the two largest annual car-theft declines in the past 40 years, according to the nonprofit National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).

There are a number of factors at work here, too. Some of the change can likely be marked down to the world moving on from the pandemic years, when the number of stolen cars spiked significantly. Then, there was the easily preventable Kia Boys theft crisis, now seemingly addressed, and the fact that it's virtually impossible to hotwire modern cars.

Another potential reason why the overall number of auto theft rates is down, however, could be because the number of EVs in this country is going up — and pluggable vehicles, whether they're all-electric or plug-in hybrids, are much less likely to be stolen than their gasoline- or diesel-powered counterparts.

That said, how much less likely is a bit tricky to parse when looking at pluggable vehicles as a single category. In fact, the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) doesn't actually report on this, instead saying that the 20 vehicles with the very lowest claim rates — which included eight all-electric vehicles and four hybrids or plug-in hybrids — were responsible for about 85% fewer whole-vehicle claims than the average for all passenger vehicles. So, let's see how some of those top EVs rated on their own, starting with some impressive results from Tesla: While Tesla's cargo deliveries appear to be easy targets, its cars are not.

Which EVs are the least likely to be stolen?

First, for some context, the 2022-to-2024 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was by far the most common car stolen during the study period. A key HLDI measurement for this is relative claim frequency: The organization tallies up how many claims were made for each year of insurance coverage on each car and does the math to discover the rate per 1,000 insured vehicle years. The Camaro's relative claim frequency was 3,949, while the average claim frequency for all vehicles was 100. That means that the typical Camaro ZL1 was roughly 39.5 times more likely to be stolen than the average vehicle.

By contrast, the car with the lowest relative claim frequency — 1.0 — was the 2022-to-2024 Tesla Model 3 with AWD that saw 2 total claims across 290,388 insured vehicle years. In first place for SUVs was the AWD Model Y. It tied the RWD Model 3 for second place in overall claim frequencies of 2.0, based on 903,411 and 262,214 insured vehicle years, respectively. The plug-in hybrid with the fewest whole-vehicle theft claims was the 2022-to-2024 AWD Toyota RAV4 Prime– Toyota's compact SUV showcased a claim-frequency index score of 5 in the HLDI database, representing 2 claims made during the 76,305 insured vehicle years evaluated in the study.

Only one electrified pickup was mentioned in the full report, the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning crew cab that, despite Ford recently ending the pure EV F-150, had a strong claim-frequency index score of 41. Remember, that's still far below the baseline average of 100, and it compares to the gas-only F-150 SuperCrew with an index score of 87 with RWD or 68 with 4WD.

Why are EVs stolen less often than gas- or diesel-powered cars?

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As for what explains the disparity in theft rates, well, there are some interesting theories — although not much in the way of rock-solid evidence. For example, some folks believe that it comes down to parking: More EVs are kept in garages, whether those locations are private or public, so the vehicles can be charged overnight. This adds another layer of risk for car thieves, who would prefer to do their dirty work out on dark and unmonitored streets. Moreover, the EVs themselves can sometimes come with their own video monitors baked in. Tesla and Mercedes-Benz are among the automakers that install camera arrays in EVs to keep an eye out for suspicious activity.

There also isn't a big market for stolen EV parts. After all, catalytic converter thefts may still be an expensive problem, but electric vehicles don't have them. Instead, perhaps the priciest component of an EV is its high-voltage battery pack, and stealing that without being electrocuted is no simple task.

Also, despite science pretty much proving that range anxiety for most people is unfounded, it may still be on the minds of criminals. Certain experts have floated the idea that thieves may be too concerned about how range can impact their getaways to take a chance on stealing an EV. Yes, EV chargers are being installed at a record pace in the U.S. However, thieves probably won't want their chances of success riding on whether or not they can find a working charging station nearby.