Anaheim police debut Tesla patrol cars in pilot program

The Anaheim Police Department will be introducing Tesla vehicles into their patrol fleet through a pilot program.

The department said they’ve purchased six Model Y SUVs directly from Tesla. The vehicles, which are specially outfitted with the necessary equipment to become patrol vehicles, were completed by a third-party vendor called Unplugged Performance.

Anaheim police said the department is facing a severe shortage of dependable and reliable patrol cars.

“National supply chain issues, aging patrol vehicles, and delivery delays of newly purchased patrol cars have caused a significant vehicle shortage in the Anaheim Police Department’s fleet,” officials said.

Delivery of vehicles and replacement parts were taking over a year to arrive, police said.

“The department sought out a creative way to quickly acquire patrol cars” and decided the addition of Tesla vehicles, which could be delivered within a two-week timeframe, was the best option.

According to the Orange County Register, the department has 83 patrol vehicles which city officials said are aging and breaking down all the time. Maintenance costs are also an ongoing difficulty.

The issue has become so pronounced that there aren’t enough vehicles for officers to properly patrol and serve the community, officials said.

The Model Y was chosen for its “advanced features, including rapid acceleration, ample storage capacity, affordability, and low maintenance requirements, all of which are integral to police operations,” said Anaheim PD. “With state-of-the-art technology and safety features, in addition to an expansive supercharging network throughout the city, these vehicles will enable officers to respond swiftly to incidents and effectively engage with the community.”

Although the Teslas have a higher cost initially, the overall lifetime maintenance costs will be lower.

Each specially outfitted Model Y patrol car will cost around $95,000 compared to $79,000 for a Ford Explorer, the O.C. Register reports. However, the Teslas won’t have costly maintenance fees that come with traditional gas-engine vehicles and are expected to have a longer lifetime.

Other local police departments that have purchased Tesla vehicles include South Pasadena and Fremont.

Officers will be trained to drive the electric vehicles before taking them out for patrol duty.

Throughout the pilot program, officers will be monitoring the car’s “performance, reliability, and cost-effectiveness in various operational settings.”

Depending on the collected data, the department will determine whether more Tesla vehicles will be purchased for the fleet.

The program will also evaluate how well the EVs hold their charge. A police spokesperson told the O.C. Register that the Model Y has an estimated range of around 300 miles per charge which allows plenty of room to observe battery efficiency as most officers drive around 100 miles in a 12-hour shift.

For now, the Model Y is also the only electric vehicle that is “pursuit-rated,” according to Anaheim city officials.

“We’re not going to replace our entire fleet with electric cars,” Anaheim Police Sgt. Jacob Gallacher told the O.C. Register. “But if it’s something that we could supplement our fleet with, that’s something we may consider doing.”