The trend for police departments to switch to electric patrol cars is definitely gaining momentum after results have shown impressive performance and even more impressive savings.
The latest is the Spokane Police Department in Washington State. On Monday, Spokane City Council approved the purchase of four Tesla Model Y’s to be used as patrol vehicles.
Despite the obvious shift to electrification, city officials actually recommended against the purchase. Citing a lack of charging infrastructure and a fear of the amount of time the cars would be unavailable for use while charging, officials recommended the purchase of two hybrid and two gas powered vehicles instead, or only one Tesla.
“The administration remains concerned about this purchase because of the high cost and lack of EV charging infrastructure to support these vehicles as well as the time that they would be unavailable for use due to charging,” said city spokeswoman Marlene Feist.
Council president Breean Beggs was an advocate for the purchase, after urging the city for more than a year to build more EV charging infrastructure.
“This is a great time to pilot this and see how it works. It would take essentially one charger to be installed,” Beggs told The Spokesman.
To purchase the four Model Y’s, Spokane will pay an estimated $418,088.10 USD. Nearly half of that amount, $200,000 will be covered by a grant.
Spokane isn’t the first police department to purchase a Model Y. The City of Eden Prairie in Minnesota also recently received approval to purchase the electric SUV. In a statement to Drive Tesla, the Eden Prairie PD said they hope to have the Model Y on the road by February next year.
