Many people ask why their Prius converters are being stolen in record numbers. Why do people target a hybrid vs a large truck? Aren’t Prius’s suppose to be clean vehicles? The answer is Palladium and Rhodium. It is true that Prius’s are clean and are classified at the Super Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle (SULEV) level, but in order to obtain that classification Toyota had to ensure the Prius passed a strict emissions test. The reason hybrids have some of the highest precious metal content out of any vehicle is because hybrids turn on and off their gasoline engines frequently to save gas. However, most of the harmful emissions are produced during the initial start of the engine called a cold start. A catalytic converter needs to reach an optimal temperature to efficiently convert harmful gases, but frequent cold starts constantly lowers that temperature and makes the converter inefficient at reducing harmful emissions.
In order to solve this, Toyota overloaded their hybrid converters with palladium and rhodium. 10-15 years ago (2004-2010), palladium was only around $200-$300 per troy ounce and rhodium averaged around $3,000. Today, palladium is around $2,600 and rhodium is around $27,000. At the time Toyota designed their converters, the price of metals was cheap, but due to global supply constraints and rising need for cleaner cars, the prices of those metals jumped upwards of 700% for palladium and 300% for rhodium in the past few years.
Due to these factors thieves are making the most money off of Prius converters and making life harder for Prius owners. We highly recommend our Cat Shield to prevent such theft and to protect your investment. Let us know if you have any questions that aren’t answered here.