I would have thought they would be stolen for the batteries. They are worth a lot. But then there may not be much of a black market for them.
It appears they are lasting much longer than forecast. Likely because the software controls the charge level of the battery pack in a manner that is beneficial.
The Prius actually has some superb engineering, I'm always surprised that it gets trashed so much on FR. As far as I know the Baraqqis had nothing to do with the Prius and it isn't built by the UAW.