Police cars aren’t cheap. They have big engines and strong body reinforcements, made to take abuse normal models cannot take. The LAPD is bringing new meaning to “green police”
(Mashable) Â A Tesla Model S is about as far from a Ford Crown Victoria as you can imagine, but the former might just replace the latter in the police fleets of the U.S.
As part of a larger effort to be more environmentally friendly, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) announced Friday that it would be leasing a Tesla Model S P85D and a BMW i3 for research into electric vehicles (EV).
The city of Los Angeles is looking to lease a total of 160 EVs, which would give it the largest city-owned EV fleet in the U.S.
Here’s what they look like
#LAPD: @LAPDChiefBeck speaking at the news conference on Historic Transition to Green Energy Vehicles. pic.twitter.com/n1KdFOrX8F
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) September 11, 2015
Fantastic! So, officers will have to get off the road every hour or so (maybe less) and take time to charge the cars up. Usually around 30 minutes for an 80% charge. So, that means law enforcement is unavailable to patrol or respond to calls during 1/3 to 1/2 of their shift. And, they’ll have to find charging ports around the city. Police will literally have to plan their driving day around constant recharging. Good idea!
Pit maneuver? Good luck with that. What happens if they are in an accident? Special fire department responses are needed, like with most hybrid and electric cars.
Teach how can you be so ignorant of the capabilities of the Tesla S?
It gives a – to 60 time of 2.8 seconds
The range is currently 270 miles but is expected to go to 400 in less than 1 year.
It also has THE highest safety rating of ANY car sold in the USA
you could get a 100% charge during a normal shift change
Teach for someone who is supposed to be an IT guy you are pretty far behind on this
It’s like when you thought that the Volt was an electric car and not a hybrid
And that is their OLD model
The next one the model X will cost less than 40K
and take a look at it !http://www.teslamotors.com/modelx
Their intention with the BMW I3 is to use it for non squad car duties
As usual, john is talking out his sphincter muscle.
While john likes to talk about the range of the vehicle, what he fails to take into account is that while the Tesla is sitting there with the engine off, it is still going to be draining massive amounts of power for electrical systems that are required such as radios, license ID systems, onboard computers (most units have two these days minimum), radar systems, police specific gps systems, etc not to mention the required light bars, spot lights, flashing lights in the grill, rear and sides.
The power drain on the systems will cut the range down significantly.
Gas powered cars get past that by the police packages all having a larger alternator which charges the higher capacity battery (and in some packages batteries). The Tesla is not going to have that luxury.
And of course, don’t forget that when the police are doing something like sitting at road construction, watching for speeders, handling traffic duties, etc, the heating / air conditioning system is kept on. Here in Florida, the biggest enemy is not the mileage of a police car, but the hours of service because the engine is ALWAYS on. The Tesla is going to have problems with a/c and heat not affecting the range of the car. In fact, it will be impossible.
Secondly, little johnny thinks that the Tesla will keep its original configuration as far as weight and aerodynamics is concerned. It won’t. In fact, it cant.
Police cars require upgraded bumpers and push bars. The doors are reinforced with metal for protection. Cages for transporting criminals are very heavy as well. Also, don’t forget the light bars, etc all add weight – weight that an internal combustion engine can overcome. The Tesla may struggle with the additional weight because the only place to get power from is the onboard batteries.
John also says that Tesla is coming out with a $40,000 model. First off, there is no “B” pillar in that model which means adding more steel or going another route. Wither way, it adds weight. A lot of weight.
Secondly, the Model X features “Falcon wing doors.” That means that when a cop pulls up to a scene with gunfire, he cannot get the protection of a door between him and the shooter. It also means that because the door opens for both the front and the back, anytime you lock a prisoner in the back seat, you have to open the door again when the officer wants to get in the car. I can’t wait to see cops chasing after a prisoner they had already arrested when they go to get back in the car.
Still, even at $40,000 (which HAS to go up because of modifications) the Model X as it sits right now is roughly $13,000 more than a standard car with a police package which is roughly about $27,000.
Of course, that $40K is a BASE price and doesn’t include the battery guarantee that Tesla recommends. (roughly $12k in cost) Will Tesla guarantee the batteries or offer the extended warranty for the batteries for the police cars? That is unknown at this point but a replacement pack is not cheap and given that most police departments are trying to replace units on a 5 year schedule, the issue will be resale value of the car itself. Departments will be taking a financial hit on the vehicle coming in and going out the door.
It also means that even with the Model X, the police will buy 2 Tesla Model X”s for every 3 gas powered cars. In addition, the training and equipment to fix these vehicles has to be taken into account.
Should departments look into things like electric cars and hybrids? Sure. Absolutely. But right now this is a test program and will most likely fail on many levels.
EVs for the City make sense, given vehicles that are only operated roughly 3-10 hours a day.
EVs w/o swappable battery packs for cops? Not even close to that. Your shift change charge? That’s good for only 170 miles of range. Oh, and it would require one Supercharger for EVERY vehicle.
Maybe not.
Here in Florida many cops take their cars home with them as a perk of the job. (It has also been said that having a police car parked in the driveway helps deter crime but I have not seen a study of that.)
Therefore, you’d have to build charging stations at the homes of the cops that take their cars home, plus have charging stations at the individual police stations. So while you are right that the local governments would most likely have to pay for a charging station for every vehicle, that is only the case initially.
When a new cop is hired, resigns, moves, is promoted, etc, the city will be paying for a charging station at the home of the person who fills their job.
Therefore over the course of time, the taxpayers of the city will be paying for charging stations at a rate of more than one station per car.
Ain’t government grand?
Elon Musk must be dancing with glee over the possibilities. With federal subsidies, state subsidies, city purchase agreements, accessories, spare parts and upgrades, he’ll have the taxpayers paying for 130% of the cost of every Tesla.
In fact, it isn’t too much of a reach to call him a new-age pirate.
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