Cops Don’t Like Teslas After all

In California, the Irvine Police Department recently received a lot of attention after it released a promotional video showing off its new Tesla Cybertruck. The video has a spooky feel to it because it uses music from Terminator movie franchise, where the cops aren’t the good guys.

Irvine PD says this is the first Tesla Cybertruck to be used as a police vehicle, although it is only used for the DARE anti-drug program and not for patrol. Taxpaying citizens certainly like that.

You might be wondering, is Tesla as good as real, commercial, crime-fighting police cars? EVs have fast acceleration, steering, and impressive top speed, so they can be considered suitable.

SFGate addressed this very question, speaking to three police departments in Northern California that are already trying to add Teslas to their fleets. And while none came away pessimistic about electric cars, they weren’t very enthusiastic about them either. But their complaints also highlight the issue of EVs in general, not just as they relate to enforcement.

It seems logical that charging would be a big problem for police officers who have to drive all day, but it really wasn’t. Instead, the two issues that police officers highlight most are the size of the vehicles and customization.

The Ukiah Police Department in Mendocino County moved to purchase two Model 3s after the city council there passed a resolution in 2022 ordering departments to convert to green vehicles where possible. Police Chief Cedric Crook said SFGate that two Model 3s with police-ready modifications cost up to $150,000.

The first thing he says about cars is those changes. Teslas are notoriously difficult to operate or customize under normal circumstances, and police require a number of add-ons including emergency lights, push bars, partitions, and ballistic panels to toughen them up. The only place to convert Teslas this way seems to be Hawthorne’s Off-Line operation, which also modified the Cybertruck for Irvine PD. Crook learned after contacting Unplugged that it would take months to customize the Model 3s—and he would have to ship them hundreds of miles to Southern California first.

That’s annoying, but the size of the cabinet ultimately became a drawback. Crook found that the rear seats of Model 3s “only have room for one inmate,” limiting the ability to search for multiple suspects at a time. And the duty belts worn by officers can add a lot of weight and bulk to their bodies, apparently making it difficult to get in and out of the driver’s seat of the smaller Model 3s. Another police department in Menlo Park, near Tesla’s Palo Alto HQ, made the same complaint—and they were using Model Y crossovers. Adding a partition that separates the front and back seats reduces the space available in the front where the center console and police computer are located. “Police reported that the cramped cabin caused their seat belts and bulletproof vests to get stuck in the passenger seat, ‘rendering it unusable’,” SFGate found.

The criminals still have to wait six months for the cars to finish the repairs, but for other reasons mentioned, they decided to use the administrative staff. Also, taxpayers must love the $150,000 spent on two paper pushers.

At Fort Bragg, the police department chose Ford F-150 Lightnings instead of Teslas, and the police chief reported that they were satisfied with it. The car is clearly chosen because its design is almost identical to the gas-powered F-150. That’s good because apparently they’re similar enough to the fire version that both parts and mechanics to work on are readily available. He was afraid that the Teslas would be stuck in the shop more often.

The F-150’s design, he said, is also better suited for police work than the 3 or Y. In particular, its high clearance is important for off-road jumping and off-road use. This is one where all the police departments in the mentioned issues-Teslas sit very low. The IF-150 in particular is also ideal because it has a truck bed where police equipment, bicycles, and other equipment can be stored.

Of course, the Cybertruck should be able to deal with some of these issues. But customization and maintenance are still an issue, and Cybertrucks are plentiful. Fort Bragg, where they chose the F-150 Lightnings, is a small and isolated location on the coast. Police need a small patrol car in urban areas, and Tesla’s Model 3 and Y are built for it.

Finally the biggest complaint that even citizens have about EVs is that there are not enough options to choose from for that appeal in all certain areas, so the complaints from the police are not crazy. There are very few options for EVs, and combustion vehicles benefit from decades of infrastructure built around them.