The Lee County Sheriff’s Office in Florida has announced the launch of a Tesla Pilot Program, which will see the office purchase 20 Teslas for civil, community and police enforcement duties.
According to Fox 4, the program will see Lee County purchase twenty Model 3 and Model Y vehicles for its fleet. The Teslas will principally be assigned to civil and community divisions. A single Tesla vehicle will also be assigned to the Patrol division to see how the vehicle performs as an enforcement vehicle.
In addition to the vehicles, the Sheriff’s Office noted that they will need to invest and install multiple charging stations around the city to support the fleet. However, the office did not confirm if the chargers will be available to the public or only for Lee County Sheriff’s Office vehicles. Nor did they confirm if it would be a Tesla charger or if the County would partner with another charging provider.
The Pilot program is expected to save the office 50 per cent or more per vehicle on annual maintenance and operational costs. However, the office did not confirm specifics about the pilot program or how the office is scoring the Teslas.
Lee County isn’t the only jurisdiction in Florida going electric with Tesla. Earlier this year Venice purchased three Model 3’s for its police, utilities, and building divisions. Also, in Coral Gables the mayor Vince Lago has directed the Coral Gables Police Chief to start the procurement process to acquire a Tesla.
