MENLO PARK (KCBS RADIO) – The Menlo Park Police Department has just received a delivery of the first of its electric patrol cars.
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Police volunteers in the department will be part of a pilot program to test the Tesla Y's as patrol vehicles, starting with three, and eventually, the city is hoping to have all its vehicles be electric by 2030. "We want to lead the charge, we know this is important for us," Menlo Park Police Chief Dave Norris told KCBS Radio.
The one downside, according to Norris, is that police train to know the safest place to be in some type of firefight is behind the engine block of your vehicle, but electric vehicles don't have engine blocks.
"We need to bring these vehicles and get them ballistic shielding so that there's a level of protection that we know that we can tactically get behind that vehicle in a certain way," he said. Other police equipment also needs to be installed.
For this first round of patrol vehicles, Norris put out the call for volunteers from his department.
One officer, Sgt. Tim Bracket, already drives a Tesla Model 3 for personal use and loves it, but he has some questions about the department change.
"What I see the issue is–how quickly to recharge the vehicles?" Bracket asked. "The infrastructure has to be put into place where quite honestly you need a Tesla charger, and you can have a full charge in under an hour."
Police cars are driven differently than personal cars and by different types of drivers.
Another pilot volunteer, Officer Tony Mendoza, is thrilled to give the Tesla Y a try. "It's basically like a free lease program and I don't have to pay anything," he said.
But he too has considerations – like the battery lasting an entire shift.
Regardless of concerns, the transition to electric is definitely happening and officers better get familiar with the vehicles, said Norris. "We know electric vehicles accelerate faster than typically gas-powered vehicles so that drive might be different," he added.
While Teslas were chosen for this pilot, a number of automakers will be considered for fleet purchase.
City officials are in Detroit this week at the national government fleet expo conference where other options will be on display.
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