- The City of South Pasadena's police fleet is going all electric
- The fleet will consist of 20 EVs with 10 Tesla Model Ys and 10 Model 3s
- The project will cost the city $1.85 million
Even cop cars are going electric.
On Monday, the South Pasadena Police Department in California announced it's the first police fleet in the U.S. to go all electric.
The department will completely replace its gas-powered vehicles with EVs.
South Pasadena electric Tesla police cars – Photo via City of South Pasadena Facebook fan page
A fleet of 20 Teslas will become the departments latest cop cars. The department will acquire 10 Tesla Model Ys as patrol vehicles and 10 Model 3s for detective and administrative duties. Photos of the electric police cars were posted to Facebook by Supervisor Kathryn Barger and reshared to the City of South Pasadena's fan page.
UP.FIT, a division of Tesla tuning house Unplugged Performance, will equip the Teslas for patrol and administrative police duty.
Tesla Cybertruck Next-Gen Patrol by UP.FIT
The news from Pasadena comes just after the Irvine Police Department announced it will soon take delivery of a Tesla Cybertruck, which will also be equipped for police duty by UP.FIT.
A bank of 34 electric chargers were installed at South Pasadena City Hall to ensure the cars are charged. More chargers are planned for the the police station, fire station, and it will all be backed up by a solar-powered system with battery storage to ensure power delivery during power outages.
“This transition reflects the city’s vision of a sustainable future based on both sound fiscal management and environmental stewardship,” said South Pasadena Mayor Evelyn Zneimer.
Zneimer said the city's city council is behind the decision to have a "21st century police force."
South Pasadena Police Chief Brian Solinsky said, "switching to these vehicles offers the police department the opportunity to acquire a cutting-edge vehicle fleet."
City staff expect the transition to save about $4,000 per vehicle on energy costs, with more savings on vehicle maintenance. The EV fleet is expected to be at least half the per-mile cost of the gas-powered cars used today.
Over half the funding for the project is coming from partners. Clean Transportation Funding from the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee will contribute nearly $500,000 to the program. Approximately $530,0000 in work will be covered by Southern California Edison under the Charge Ready program.
Clean Power Alliance's Power Ready Program is providing no-cost solar and battery storage systems. The city said its net expense for the project will be $1.85 million, which includes the cost of the EV chargers and lease payments for the Teslas.
Historically police departments have wanted to electrify their fleets but noted there are few vehicle options to do so. Most cite cost as the major issue.
