The Menlo Park Police Department (MPPD) on Tuesday put their two recently purchased Tesla Model Y electric vehicles (EVs) on the streets for full-time patrol duties for the very first time (via M-A Chronicle).
These two Model Ys are part of a pilot program to test the viability of EVs in the MPPD’s operations. Ori Paz, who works for the City of Menlo Park’s Sustainability Department, said, “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.”
The MPPD first received approval from Menlo Park, California’s City Council to purchase Tesla Model Ys for police cruisers in November 2021. At the time, the Model Y was the largest EV with the greatest mileage available at the time.
While the MPPD was approved to purchase three Model Ys, only two have hit the streets so far. The department has also ordered a Ford F-150 Lightning, which was recently named Motortrend‘s 2023 “Truck of the Year.”
“Since we purchased the Teslas, both Ford and Chevy announced that they were releasing police-rated EVs in the near future, so we’re waiting for them to release those and we’ve ordered a Ford Lightning that’s on the way,” said Andrew Brunicardi, one of the officers who’ve driven the Tesla patrol vehicle.
The MPPD is far from the first police department to put Tesla EVs in the field as patrol cars. It follows in the footsteps of police departments from Boulder City, Nevada, the City of Cotati in Sonoma County, California, the City of Hallandale Beach in Florida, and many more.
While EVs often cost more to purchase than gas-powered alternatives, they cut down substantially on emissions and make up the price difference in fuel and maintenance costs. Add to that the fact that Menlo Park runs entirely on renewable electricity, and emissions go down even further.
“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,” Paz added.
“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.”
Menlo Park wants to transition to a fully-electric police fleet by 2023 and eliminate fossil fuel use for 90% of city operations by 2030.
Update Dec. 19, 2022: A Menlo Park spokesperson reached out to Tesla North to clarify, the city will “continue to prioritize the purchase electric vehicles, and purchased nine EVs for 2023. The intention is to transition to an electric fleet, for all vehicles with a commercially available EV, by 2030.”
In addition to patrol vehicles, Menlo Park also wants to transition to all-electric for building inspection vehicles, community service and library vehicles, other police vehicles like code enforcement vehicles, and pool vehicles used by employees for meetings or site visits.
