The City of South Pasadena has become the first city in the United States to fully transition its police department’s fleet to electric vehicles, and the entire fleet consists of Teslas.
On Monday the South Pasadena Police Department unveiled their fleet of 20 Tesla vehicles, including 10 Tesla Model Ys for patrol duties and 10 Tesla Model 3s for detective and administrative roles.
The new all-electric fleet is expected to bring substantial financial savings to the city. According to city officials, the transition will save approximately US$4,000 annually per vehicle in energy costs. With a fleet of 30 vehicles, that equates to a total savings of around US$80,000 per year in energy costs alone.
But the savings will be even greater than that, as the operational cost per mile of the Teslas is projected to be at least half of that of their traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. These savings will come from the reduced need for maintenance on brakes, oil changes, air filters, and other regular maintenance items on gas-powered vehicles.
In a video announcing the transition to an all-electric fleet, Police Sergeant Tony Abdalla tackled one of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to having an EV for a police vehicle, running out of charge while on shift or during a chase.
“One of the biggest misconceptions is how long does it take to charge and aren’t you going to run out of charge during a pursuit? The range on the Model Y is almost identical to the cars that were previously in service. We’re able to get another 200 miles of range in 15 minutes,” Abdalla explained in the video, which you can watch below.
To keep the fleet of Tesla police cars on the road and fully charged, 34 new chargers have been installed at the South Pasadena City Hall. The Clean Power Alliance’s Power Ready Program is also installing a solar system with battery storage as a backup source of energy, further enhancing the sustainability of the fleet.
Today, the SPPD is proud to announce the conversion of our entire gas-powered fleet, all at once, to @Tesla battery electric vehicles by @UpfitTesla. We reached this decision because we wanted the safest and most capable vehicle for the job, lowest total cost of ownership, and… pic.twitter.com/l5RMfChdGe
— South Pasadena PD (@southpaspd) July 29, 2024
