Last summer the Bargersville Police Department in Indiana took delivery of a Tesla Model 3, with the EV officially joining the force in August 2019.
Before their purchase, the police department had whittled their choices down to the Model 3, or the police car of choice, a Dodge Charger.
Even though the Tesla was $15,000 more expensive, it won out thanks to its expected lower operating costs, according to police chief Todd Bertram.
Now one year later, Bertram reports the Tesla has backed up those expectations and delivered big savings, already paying off nearly half of that initial extra cost.
In a detailed breakdown shared on his Twitter account, Bertram revealed over the 13-month period, the Tesla police cruiser has resulted in a savings of $6,755, an average of $563 each and every month.
As you can see from the image, the Model 3 only has one line of expenses for electricity, requiring zero maintenance over the first 13-months. The Dodge Charger on the other hand has 3 expense items, with the biggest being a $1,935 maintenance bill in April 2020 for tires, new water pump, headlights, and fuel pump.
The costs for the Tesla were consistent, hovering around $50 and $60 per month for electricity. The one exception was December 2019, where the police department spent $125 on electricity due to the cold weather that month.
Despite the impressive numbers, Bertram says he was actually expecting the savings to be larger, but his calculations were impacted by the lower than anticipated gas prices.
That hasn’t put a damper on his enthusiasm for having a Tesla as a police vehicle, as he said he is considering adding a Model Y to the force in 2021.
