Fremont police Tesla runs low on juice during high-speed chase

[PeteS in CA]

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/09/24/fremont-police-tesla-runs-low-on-juice-during-high-speed-chase/

Fremont police Tesla runs low on juice during high-speed chase

FREMONT — The last thing a police officer trying to chase down a suspect in a high-speed pursuit needs to see is a warning that their patrol car is running low on gas — or on battery juice.

But that’s how it went down Friday night in Fremont — in a Tesla no less. A Fremont police officer pursuing a suspect while driving the department’s Tesla Model S patrol car noticed it was running out of battery power.

During the pursuit of a “felony vehicle” that started in Fremont and reached peak speeds of about 120 miles per hour on the highway, the officer driving the Tesla radioed in to dispatch that he might not be able to continue the chase he was leading.

“I am down to six miles of battery on the Tesla so I may lose it here in a sec,” Officer Jesse Hartman said.

“If someone else is able, can they maneuver into the number one spot?,” he asked fellow officers nearby, as the chase approached the Jacklin Road exit on Interstate 680 south in Milpitas.

What isn't obvious in this story is that the City of Fremont bought some Teslas to support a hometown company. But what genius that it was a good idea to use the pricey POSs for police cars that might have to do long high-speed chases?! Had the vehicle being chased not been hindered by traffic, it might have gotten off by simply taking the Calaveras Blvd or Landess/Montague exit and disappearing into the neighborhood after the police car dropped the chase.

[Smokin Joe]

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/09/24/fremont-police-tesla-runs-low-on-juice-during-high-speed-chase/

Fremont police Tesla runs low on juice during high-speed chase

What isn't obvious in this story is that the City of Fremont bought some Teslas to support a hometown company. But what genius that it was a good idea to use the pricey POSs for police cars that might have to do long high-speed chases?! Had the vehicle being chased not been hindered by traffic, it might have gotten off by simply taking the Calaveras Blvd or Landess/Montague exit and disappearing into the neighborhood after the police car dropped the chase.

You won't see an electric police vehicle here, unless it has a meter maid in it.

Good thing they weren't running the heater....

[mountaineer]

What genius in city government thought Teslas were appropriate for police use? Any chance the voters could dispose of him/her/them?

[thackney]

This is what it takes for a Tesla Model S to become a police car
https://mashable.com/article/tesla-model-s-fremont-police-patrol-ev/
MAR 06, 2019

... At police headquarters ahead of the car's March 15 debut patrol ride, Fremont police Capt. Sean Washington explained why the car required $4,000 in modifications. Unlike the force's Ford police cars, a Tesla doesn't come with a "police package," essentially a barebones version of a car that can be easily modified with police lights and center equipment....

...Everything from a hard smooth plastic prisoner seat (people vomit and urinate in the back, a lieutenant told me as we toured the car) and prisoner partition and push-bumper had to be customized for a Tesla Model S. It's a long list of modifications that went into the Fremont PD EV: an overhead light bar, rear flashers, in-vehicle camera, trunk lighting, push-bumper, partitions between the front seat and back and between the backseat and trunk area, the center console pulled out and replaced with police equipment, the front doors replaced with armored door panels, and so many other details, like disabled windows and door handles for the back seat.

Tesla engineers were consulted to make sure drilling into certain sections wouldn't destroy the vehicle. The Tesla tablet remains in the dashboard, but the police computer sits in front of it. The features that Tesla is known for were disabled, like the Autopilot semi-autonomous system and self-parking.

Washington explained that the department didn't set out to buy a Tesla in particular, but any EV as part of a program to reduce emissions from city vehicles. After evaluating different brands for battery range, size ("police have a lot of equipment"), and performance, Tesla came out on top. It just happens that Tesla vehicles are manufactured in Fremont, California....

...Compared with the typical gas Ford police vehicle over a five-year period and putting on about 90,000 miles (Fremont patrol cars don't put on much mileage with short trips) it comes out to $5,130 for five years worth of energy compared to $32,297 in gas. The initial costs are where it gets people: $74,500 for the Tesla compared to $40,500 for a Ford....

[Wingnut]

It's hard to be green.  Costly too.  But WTH...It's for the children.

[PeteS in CA]

You won't see an electric police vehicle here, unless it has a meter maid in it.

Good thing they weren't running the heater....

Before foisting these POSs on the police, Fremont should have issued them to city bureaucrats, especially the ones who have to commute the Sunol Grade on I-680, the Dumbarton Bridge, or the San Mateo Bridge, .

[PeteS in CA]

What genius in city government thought Teslas were appropriate for police use? Any chance the voters could dispose of him/her/them?

Fremont used to be represented in Congress by bleep Pete Stark. They finally replaced him ... with Eric Swallwell.

[Snarknado]

Apparently the city couldn't afford the roof-mount windmill option...

[mountaineer]

Apparently the city couldn't afford the roof-mount windmill option...

Isn't that how AOC and the new raw deal crowd would "power" farm tractors, bulldozers, semis and the like?

[Snarknado]

Isn't that how AOC and the new raw deal crowd would "power" farm tractors, bulldozers, semis and the like?

It should be standard on every vehicle. It's a no-brainer - the faster you drive, the more power the windmill generates. Overpasses and utility lines will have to be raised a few feet, but that's a small price to pay.

[PeteS in CA]

Apparently the city couldn't afford the roof-mount windmill option...

 

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

This is what it takes for a Tesla Model S to become a police car
https://mashable.com/article/tesla-model-s-fremont-police-patrol-ev/
MAR 06, 2019

... At police headquarters ahead of the car's March 15 debut patrol ride, Fremont police Capt. Sean Washington explained why the car required $4,000 in modifications. Unlike the force's Ford police cars, a Tesla doesn't come with a "police package," essentially a barebones version of a car that can be easily modified with police lights and center equipment....

...Everything from a hard smooth plastic prisoner seat (people vomit and urinate in the back, a lieutenant told me as we toured the car) and prisoner partition and push-bumper had to be customized for a Tesla Model S. It's a long list of modifications that went into the Fremont PD EV: an overhead light bar, rear flashers, in-vehicle camera, trunk lighting, push-bumper, partitions between the front seat and back and between the backseat and trunk area, the center console pulled out and replaced with police equipment, the front doors replaced with armored door panels, and so many other details, like disabled windows and door handles for the back seat.

Tesla engineers were consulted to make sure drilling into certain sections wouldn't destroy the vehicle. The Tesla tablet remains in the dashboard, but the police computer sits in front of it. The features that Tesla is known for were disabled, like the Autopilot semi-autonomous system and self-parking.

Washington explained that the department didn't set out to buy a Tesla in particular, but any EV as part of a program to reduce emissions from city vehicles. After evaluating different brands for battery range, size ("police have a lot of equipment"), and performance, Tesla came out on top. It just happens that Tesla vehicles are manufactured in Fremont, California....

...Compared with the typical gas Ford police vehicle over a five-year period and putting on about 90,000 miles (Fremont patrol cars don't put on much mileage with short trips) it comes out to $5,130 for five years worth of energy compared to $32,297 in gas. The initial costs are where it gets people: $74,500 for the Tesla compared to $40,500 for a Ford....

Even at over $4/gal, that's not much better than 10mpg.  I suppose they figure the cars will be sitting idling with the air on most of the time.  And I'm sure they factor the same into the telsa numbers and didn't just take whatever musk said as gospel.

[dfwgator]

"That's a helluva price to pay for being stylish."