The Menlo Park Police Department rollout out their recently purchased Tesla Model Y’s for full-time patrol duties. As Drive Tesla reported back in May, the police force invested in three Model Y
police cruisers as part of a test pilot.
Ori Paz from the City of Menlo Park’s Sustainability Department had this to say:
The Teslas are a stepping stone. We’re working with our partners in the police department to get the officers more familiar and comfortable with electric vehicles. It gives us an opportunity to learn from them whether or not these vehicles are doing what they need them to do, and how we can invest in infrastructure for charging and other things in the future. Also, we got a bit of an inside look at the costs around outfitting and purchasing the Model Ys. (via M-A Chronicle)
The Teslas themselves were $64,000 after taxes and then outfitting them was an additional $39,000, so in total it was around $103,000 per vehicle. It seems like a large price tag, but if you look at the other vehicles in the fleet they’re somewhat comparable. For example, the Ford Explorer hybrids that are used for patrol are $51,600 for the vehicle and then they get another $25,000 with fitting for safety and communications and all of the equipment that goes into the patrol vehicles.
As you can see, the cost difference is not that much, and the cost savings on gas and maintenance will quickly close the price gap. It will be interesting to see how the Model Ys perform and if Menlo Park adds additional Teslas once the pilot ends.
