No one wants to walk out to their driveway or parking spot in the morning to discover that their car is missing. It’s the worst, but your choice of wheels might have more than you think to do with the likelihood that car thieves will strike. And if you’re looking for the least-stolen vehicles on the market, EVs have most of the top spots. 

EVs make up a sizable part of the least-stolen vehicles on the market, with Tesla taking the top spots

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) does more than rate consumer market cars based on their crashworthiness. It also researches topics like car theft and releases the data to better inform motorists and car shoppers.

Most recently, the IIHS Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI)  findings favored electric vehicles (EVs) over other segments. The dual-motor Tesla Model 3 between model years 2022 and 2024, for instance, had a relative theft insurance claim frequency of just 1.0, 99 less than the industry average.

According to the IIHS HLDI, “The 20 least-stolen vehicles include eight electric vehicles and two plug-in hybrids, all of which have whole-vehicle theft claim frequencies that are more than 85% lower than the all-vehicle average.”

So, why do EVs manage to elude theft so much better than other segments? The HLDI says “electric vehicles are likely to be garaged or parked near buildings to facilitate charging, making them less attractive to thieves.” It makes sense, too. Out of pure necessity, EVs tend to be in more secure parking. 

High horsepower, high probability of theft

On the other hand, high-horsepower, gas-powered cars seem to remain a priority for car thieves. The Chevrolet Camaro, for example, had a whole-vehicle claim frequency of 1,287, almost 13 times the industry average.

The supercharged version of the Camaro fared even worse. According to the data, the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 had the worst claim frequency on the market, with a staggering 3,949, nearly 40 times the average.