Car theft soared 20% last year — here are vehicles most at risk

Published

2 years ago

October 26, 2023

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Car theft surged 20% last year, according to fresh FBI data — and a vehicle safety rating agency said models from Dodge, Land Rover and BMW were among the most likely to be stolen.

The FBI’s annual crime report published Monday showed there were 721,852 car thefts across the country in 2022 — up from 601,453 incidents in 2021 and 420,952 reported in 2020 at the start of the pandemic.

Last year’s top 10 most-stolen cars were pegged by the Highway Loss Data Institute, which studied 2020 to 2022 car models and found that three Dodge muscle cars and two Kias made the list.

According to the list, earlier reported on by the Daily Mail, the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat topped the ranking as the most broken-into car in 2022, HLDI reported.

There were 6,128 theft claims in 2022 involving the four-door Hellcat — which retails from $81,040 for a 2022 model — while the No. 2 car, the cheaper Dodge Charger HEMI, was involved in 2,197 claims.

Infiniti’s Q50 midsize sedan came in third place with 878 claims, according to HLDI, while yet another Dodge model — the old-timey Challenger — came in fourth as it was involved in 766 theft incidents in 2022.

Rounding out the top five most-stolen cars: The high-end Land Rover’s Range Rover 4dr 4WD, which starts at a cool $95,150, had 611 claims last year.

Two additional Kia models — the Sportage 4dr and Sportage 4dr 4WD — and two pricier models, Land Rover’s Range Rover Sport 4dr 4WD and BMW’s X6 4dr 4WD, as well as one Honda CR-V SUV completed the top 10.

The Post has sought comment from the FBI.

Cops have partly blamed the uptick in car thefts on a viral TikTok challenge that encourages kids to boost Kia and Hyundai vehicles for joyrides — a phenomenon known as performance crime.

Popular videos on the social media platform teach people how to start the cars with USB cables and exploit a security vulnerability in some models sold in the US without engine immobilizers — a standard feature on most cars since the 1990s preventing the engine from starting unless the key is present.

Hyundai has reportedly tried to work with TikTok and other platforms to remove the videos, but new ones have surfaced nonetheless, and fresh waves of thefts have been occurring.

NYPD statistics released last month showed there were 24% more instances of grand larceny auto reports in August compared to the same month in 2022.

In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration blames the trend for at least 14 crashes and eight fatalities, but lawyers suing the carmakers say the number is likely much higher.

Police departmentsin at least a dozen other cities have said these motor vehicle-related performance crimes factor into an increase theyve seen in juveniles arrested for or charged with car thefts.

Still, criminology experts caution that the role teens are playing in the theft increases which began during the pandemic and arent limited to Kias and Hyundais may be artificially inflated because teenagers inexperienced at crime are more likely to be caught.

Either way, the stats show the dangers of social media content looking for ways to go viral.

Earlier this month in Milwaukee, a stolen Kia collided with a school bus, leaving a 15-year-old who was hanging out the window in critical condition. Police later arrested four 14-year-olds, one of whom allegedly was driving.

Another group of thieves swiped an unmarked NYPD car — a black Kia — in January and took it on a nearly 12-hour joyride before crashing in the Bronx.

Calls for accountability have been directed at the automakers. MLG Attorneys at Law, a California law firm specializing in automotive defect lawsuits, has received more than 4,000 inquiries from victims.

Sports

Crosby leaps Lemieux as Pens’ all-time top scorer

Published

32 mins ago

December 22, 2025

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Crosby leaps Lemieux as Pens' all-time top scorer

ESPN News Services

Dec 21, 2025, 09:26 PM ET

PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby broke Mario Lemieux‘s franchise scoring record with a goal and an assist in the first period of the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ game against the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday night.

Crosby, who began the night one point behind Lemieux, now has 645 goals and 1,079 assists for 1,724 points in 1,387 games. It also moved him past Lemieux for the eighth-most points in NHL history.

Crosby tipped Erik Karlsson‘s point shot at 7:58 of the first period for a goal to tie the record. He then broke the mark with 7:20 left in the period when his shot on a power play hit Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell tapped the rebound behind Jakub Dobes.

Crosby, Rust and Rakell embraced behind the net after the goal and the Penguins spilled over the bench to congratulate their captain. Later in the period, a video message recorded by Lemieux congratulating Crosby on the accomplishment was played.

“I knew when we played together in 2005, that you were going to be a very special player, and accomplish a lot of great things in your career,” Lemieux said in a message posted on the club’s social media accounts. “Here we are, 20 years later, you are now one of the best to ever play the game.”

From one 🐐 to another. pic.twitter.com/M3drq86PqV

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 22, 2025

Lemieux, a Hall of Famer who also owned the franchise following his second retirement, became the Penguins’ all-time points leader, surpassing then-assistant coach Rick Kehoe on January 20, 1989, when Crosby was 17 months old. Lemieux, who was in the lineup when Crosby recorded his first NHL point, finished his career with 1,723 points in 915 games.

Crosby, the No. 1 pick in 2005, is the seventh outright all-time points leader in 58 years of the franchise’s history and the ninth active player to lead a franchise in points. Crosby previously broke Lemieux’s record for most assists in franchise history this past Dec. 29 against the New York Islanders. Crosby is 45 goals behind Lemieux’s franchise record of 690.

Crosby is now third on the NHL’s all-time points list with a single franchise, behind only Steve Yzerman (1,755) and Gordie Howe (1,809), both with Detroit.

Crosby also passed Phil Esposito (449) for sole possession of the ninth-most even-strength goals in NHL history. He also tied Adam Oates for the eighth-most assists in NHL history in the first period. Crosby, who has 20 goals this season, achieved his 18th 20-goal season. Only six players in NHL history have more.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Technology

Waymo resumes robotaxi service in San Francisco after blackout chaos — Musk says Tesla car service unaffected

Published

1 hour ago

December 22, 2025

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Waymo resumes robotaxi service in San Francisco after blackout chaos — Musk says Tesla car service unaffected

Alphabet-owned Waymo has resumed its driverless ride-hail service in the San Francisco Bay Area after a temporary pause during blackouts that plagued the city beginning on Saturday afternoon.

“Yesterday’s power outage was a widespread event that caused gridlock across San Francisco, with non-functioning traffic signals and transit disruptions,” a Waymo spokesperson, Suzanne Philion, told CNBC in an e-mailed statement Sunday afternoon.

“While the failure of the utility infrastructure was significant, we are committed to ensuring our technology adjusts to traffic flow during such events,” she added.

Waymo notice of service outage in San Francisco.

Source: Waymo

As power outages spread yesterday, videos shared on social media appeared to show multiple Waymo vehicles stalled in traffic in different parts of the city.

San Francisco resident Matt Schoolfield said he saw at least three Waymo autonomous vehicles stopped in traffic Saturday around 9:45 p.m. local time, including one he photographed on Turk Boulevard near Parker Avenue.

“They were just stopping in the middle of the street,” Schoolfield said.

A Waymo vehicle stuck between Parker and Beaumont, on the north side of Turk Boulevard in San Francisco.

Credit: Matt Schoolfield

The power outages began around 1:09 p.m. Saturday and peaked roughly two hours later, affecting about 130,000 customers, according to Pacific Gas and Electric. As of Sunday morning, about 21,000 customers remained without power, mainly in the Presidio, the Richmond District, Golden Gate Park and parts of downtown San Francisco.

PG&E said the outage was caused by a fire at a substation that resulted in “significant and extensive” damage, and said it could not yet provide a precise timeline for full restoration.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a 9 p.m. update on X that police officers, fire crews, parking control officers and city ambassadors were deployed across affected neighborhoods.

Waymo’s Philion also told CNBC that “While the Waymo Driver is designed to treat non-functional signals as four-way stops, the sheer scale of the outage led to instances where vehicles remained stationary longer than usual to confirm the state of the affected intersections. This contributed to traffic friction during the height of the congestion.”

Waymo “closely coordinated with San Francisco city officials,” she said, and proactively paused its service as of Saturday evening and in the first half of the day on Sunday.

“The majority of active trips were successfully completed before vehicles were safely returned to depots or pulled over,” she noted.

Amid the disruption, Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on X: “Tesla Robotaxis were unaffected by the SF power outage.”

Unlike Waymo, Tesla does not operate a driverless robotaxi service in San Francisco.

Tesla’s local ride-hailing service uses vehicles equipped with “FSD (Supervised),” a premium driver assistance system. The service requires a human driver behind the wheel at all times.

According to state regulators — including the California Department of Motor Vehicles and California Public Utilities Commission — Tesla has not obtained permits to conduct driverless testing or services in the state without human safety supervisors behind the wheel, ready to steer or brake at any time.

Tesla is vying to become a robotaxi titan, but does not yet operate commercial, driverless services. Tesla’s Robotaxi app allows users to hail a ride; however, its vehicles currently have human safety supervisors or drivers on board, even in states where the company has obtained permits for driverless operations.

Waymo, which leads the nascent industry in the West, is Tesla’s chief competitor in AVs, along with Chinese players like Baidu-owned Apollo Go.

The outage-related disruptions in San Francisco come as robotaxi services are becoming more common in other major U.S. cities. Waymo is among a small number of companies operating fully driverless ride-hailing services for the public, even as unease about autonomous vehicles remains high.

A survey by the American Automobile Association earlier this year found that about two-thirds of U.S. drivers said they were fearful of autonomous vehicles.

The Waymo pause in San Francisco indicates cities are not yet ready for highly automated vehicles to inundate their streets, said Bryan Reimer, a research scientist at the MIT Center for Transportation and co-author of “How to Make AI Useful.”

“Something in the design and development of this technology was missed that clearly illustrates it was not the robust solution many would like to believe it is,” he said.

Reimer noted that power outages are entirely predictable. “Not for eternity, but in the foreseeable future, we will need to mix human and machine intelligence, and have human backup systems in place around highly automated systems, including robotaxis,” he said.

State and city regulators will need to consider what the maximum penetration of highly automated vehicles should be in their region, Reimer added, and AV developers should be held responsible for “chaos gridlock,” just as human drivers would be held responsible for how they drive during a blackout.

— CNBC’s Riya Bhattacharjee contributed reporting.

Environment

E-quipment highlight: Komatsu PC365-11 hybrid excavator

Published

3 hours ago

December 22, 2025

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E-quipment highlight: Komatsu PC365-11 hybrid excavator

Komatsu's New PC365-11 Hybrid Excavator Boosts Power, Cuts Fuel Use

Thanks to a clever, fully electric swing system and “boom up” power assist features, the big PC365-11 hybrid excavator from Komatsu promises better performance and serious fuel savings compared to conventional diesel machines.

Komatsu says its PC365-11 hybrid excavator uses a “boom-up” power assist feature that captures and stores kinetic energy during different operation cycles, then taps into that power to provide an extra energy boost when needed. The result is 15% more productivity and a 20% improvement in fuel efficiency when compared to non-hybrid excavators in ~40 ton class.

“The PC365LC-11 was engineered for excellence in multifunction applications by leveraging its innovative electric powertrain system to boost job site productivity while reducing fuel consumption,” says Matthew Moen, Komatsu’s product manager. “To highlight these performance enhancements, we’re emphasizing the concept of ‘multifunction plus’ as the defining feature of this machine.”

How it works

[embedded content]

Komatsu hybrid explainer; via Komatsu.

Komatsu’s hybrid system replaces the conventional hydraulic swing function with a fully electric swing motor that draws power from an ultracapacitor (as opposed to a battery) energy storage unit. As excavator slows or stops swinging, something like a regenerative braking system captures the kinetic energy that would normally be lost as heat and stores it in the capacitor. Once there, the stored energy can be quickly released to power the swing motor or assist the engine, delivering up to an extra 70 hp when needed to support heavy lifting or digging cycles.

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And, thanks to Komatsu’s proprietary software, all of this energy capture and reuse happens automagically during normal work, without the need for external charging. The fuel savings happen because removing the hydraulic load from the ICE engine allows it to run at an ultra-low idle, while the productivity comes from the greater power and overall speed of the electric operations vs. conventional hydraulics.

Electrek’s Take

Komatsu lunar excavator; image by the author.

Trust me when I tell you that Komatsu didn’t wake up one day and decide to build a capacitor-based hybrid crane. One of their customers had the idea and came to them, promising orders. That’s what Komatsu does – from undersea remote control dozers to lunar mining rigs (above), if you bring Komatsu an order, they will absolutely find a way to fill it.

As for PC365-11 hybrid excavator, it’s packed with clever tech, overall – offering significant fuel, emissions, and TCO reductions without dramatically changing the operational logistics of an existing fleet’s operations. That’s all the sales pitch it needs.

SOURCE: Komatsu, via Equipment World.

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