Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City has received two Tesla Model 3 electric vehicles (EVs) to be deployed as police cars — the very first Tesla police cruisers in the country (via Taiwan English News).
The two Model 3s, worth NT$3.3 million (around $115,000 USD), were donated to the City of Kaohsiung by Ching Chan Optical Technology and the Tianzhen Foundation to help police with the detection and prevention of crime.
One of the two cars will be used by the criminal investigation team in Kaohsiung City’s Hunei District, while the other will go to the Kaohsiung City Municipal Police Station.
The Tesla Model 3 costs less to maintain than a traditional gas guzzler, said Tianzhen Foundation Chairman Chen Sung-tian, who hopes that the savings can be put to good use in other public security work. The Westport, Connecticut Police Department, which also has a Model 3 for a police cruiser, reported significant savings last year from going all-electric.
Ching Chan Optical Technology Chairman Wu Chun-nan said that the Russian-Ukrainian war has highlighted the problem of energy demand and the rising prices of oil and natural gas. Not only do EVs not require fossil fuels, but they are also miles ahead of gas-powered alternatives in terms of efficiency, said Wu.
The Kaohsiung City Government Police Department thanked the donors, noting that the Model 3 delivers superior performance as a police cruiser than the vehicles they typically use, which is beneficial for maintaining social order and boosting police morale.
From New York City in the U.S. to Nova Scotia in Canada, police departments all over the world have reported marked success with using Model 3s as police cruisers. Last month, a Tesla Model Y even debuted as Switzerland’s first Tesla police vehicle.
Tesla’s Model 3 was the second best-selling plug-in vehicle across the globe for February 2022, outsold only by the Model Y. The Model 3 also celebrated its 6th birthday earlier this week.
