Durability. Police need a car that can hop curbs, pit cars, etc and keep going with minimal damage. Police cars are driven hard and often with minimal downtime,as some departments basically hotswap cars. There’s a reason why the Ford panther platform keep going for decades. I think that BEV/PHEV vehicles will be the future, but definitely needs something durable. I wish Carbons purpose built police car would be revived
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How come Teslas are not popular for Police Cars?
- Thread starter Maximilien
- Start date
Drone Flyer
Active Member
It's mostly because Tesla does not want its cars in fleet service. It is branded as a luxury personal car and to have it "tainted' by use as a Police car is contrary to Tesla's belief. Any of the police forces that use them, buy them without any discounts or special upgrades from Tesla. Elon Musk is not too happy with his cars being used as cop cars or taxis.
At the rate Tesla fixes our cars, there would not be many cars on patrol. Hehehe.
Naekuh
Member
exactly this...
do you know how long it would be to fix a police car if it was a tesla?
They would have literally half the fleet in repair for back ordered parts.
As an FYI for others, one can take a look at Fleet Showroom | fleet.ford.com and the police specific features they list on the product pages.
I've also skimmed evaluations like at MSP - Police Vehicle Test Results before.
I've also skimmed evaluations like at MSP - Police Vehicle Test Results before.
TexLaw
Member
You'd put pretty much need a supercharger stall or two at every station, wouldn't you? That or extra cars, because I don't know that they world want to take cars offline for hours to charge.
I realize that's not a terrible expense over the long term, but it's already been mentioned how short sighted some can be.
I realize that's not a terrible expense over the long term, but it's already been mentioned how short sighted some can be.
Hot pursuits would be a problem since the car can overheat and go into limp mode.
You don't need a superchargers for every station. I think L2 charging is all needed. It's not like Police officers need to drive over 300 miles a day. Also not all cars are on duty.
@Maximilien - You clearly have your mind up and are convinced that Teslas make perfect police cars. In fact, there are a number of reasons why they make very bad police cars (even if the cost/luxury issue didn't exist). The examples you have listed of Teslas (and other supercars) being used as police cars are unique edge cases:
- cars that were seized (typically drug seizures) and tricked out as police cars -- normally used for PR purposes
- middle east police forces where (a) money is not an issue and (b) these are not the majority of the fleet, again these are unique cases done more as a way of saying "Dubai (or Abu Dhabi or Bahrain) is so rich that we have Teslas/Ferraris/Lamborghinis in our police fleet."
- Luxembourg is another edge case -- a tiny country with a lot of money where the Teslas are being used as much for political reasons as for practical law enforcement reasons.
- A Tesla does have range issues when used the way most police cars are used
- A Tesla suspension/wheels/ground clearance are nowhere near good enough to handle the kind of driving police cars engage in (going over curbs, debris, roadside ditches, etc.).
- A Tesla frame is incredibly stout, but the front fascia is nowhere near an optimal design for a car that has to be able to ram other vehicles, and the design is suboptimal to put a ramming bumper in front (as is done for many police cars).
- The door handles are not practical in this use case
- The hatchback design is not ideal to transport prisoners in the back seat
- Tesla has shown NO interest in performing the sorts of modifications necessary to produce a "production" police car...
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
An aluminum-bodied unicorn with a 3-6 month lead time on basically any replacement part is not a particularly strong candidate for a police cruiser. End of story.
Many larger law enforcement organizations famously bought frame straighteners and other equipment to bring repairs in-house for Ford's Panther chassis. Crown Vics, for all of their faults, are basically indestructible and Ford went out of their way to make sure anybody who wanted to could repair one.
Tesla has no interest in that business model nor public service.
Many larger law enforcement organizations famously bought frame straighteners and other equipment to bring repairs in-house for Ford's Panther chassis. Crown Vics, for all of their faults, are basically indestructible and Ford went out of their way to make sure anybody who wanted to could repair one.
Tesla has no interest in that business model nor public service.
Barklikeadog
Active Member
This is an open-end discussion. I am not trying to convince others. I opened the thread just to hear people's thoughts and their perdpective. Never meant serious discussion nor how the system should be this way that way etc...
In addition, I have absolutely no affiliation with police departments. Just a fun thought arose because most police cars I pass by are American manufacturers and Tesla happen to be one of them, too.
I do agree that as of now, it is not a feasible solution due to the parts availability, high initial cost, and many technical issues. But at one point or another, I believe that the transition to electric cars is happening not only to masses but also to the hearts of the governments. If Tesla does not do it, other car company may do it.
Price of the battery should keep decreasing. Charging installation should come down due to the more demand and more competition. Again, at one point I see EV's will be part of the mainstream society.
Maybe I should have said EVs for PD but to think of it, Tesla is the leading pioneer in EV with innovation. I see Tesla is not just here to satisfy rich customers (Model S and X), but instead its movement toward the general public (Model S and Model Y) and soon Tesla pickup truck imply it is interested in improving transportation overall. Maybe not now, but given some years and improvements, I don't see why Tesla will totally ignore whole fleet for PD across the states. Besides the it is the American automaker that help our economy.
I think Elon or Tesla tweeted that their vision to make even cheaper than Model 3. While that sounds like a pipedream now, give it sometime. As long as Tesla doesn't go bankrupt in the meantime, I can see $25,000 future model coming out.
Maybe I should have been more clear about the timeline. It doesn't have to be now and when Tesla takes care of its priority and becomes successful, who knows what can happen?
As a former police officer I can attest what others have said about jumping curbs, durability, etc. However, the big problem is charging. I have been out of it for 22 years, but back then we had Crown Vics and I would go through a half tank of fuel in a shift. For my department, and most departments, cars are assigned to a particular patrol beat. The previous guy would come into the station about 15 minutes before the end of shift. The car would sit perhaps 30-45 minutes before the next shift guy took it back out. Often, a late shift call might mean the replacement officer would take the car right away. Police departments don't have spare cars laying around. There isn't enough time to charge between shifts. Supercharging would be a bad idea as it would not be good to have the battery supercharged three times a day. To make it work, additional cars would be needed. That means more capital sitting around charging, and more parking needed. Perhaps the battery swap idea could be made workable for fleet use. Maybe it won't be Tesla, but perhaps it could find a use for some other manufacturer.
In time police will go with electric vehicles, but it will be a long time before that happens. It will happen when the auto manufacturers stop making cheap gasoline powered vehicles. The Chargers will probably be gone within 10 years because the public will stop buying them. The Explorers, and other gas SUVs will probably be 10 years after that. At that point the police will have to buy electric.
There has never been an exclusive vehicle built for police work. Law enforcement doesn't buy enough cars at a high enough price point to justify the automakers building a vehicle just for them. In the 1980s the choice car was the Dodge Diplomat. Every one of them had its own personality. Some were slow pokers, others were fast. They were pretty crappy cars, but they were cheap and that is why they sold so many of them. Even though most municipal departments bought them, it wasn't enough to justify keeping the line open. Chevrolet and Ford took on the business with police versions of the Caprice (Whales) and Crown Victoria. After a few years it was just Ford with the Crown Victoria. When the Crown Victoria went away there were no rear wheel drives being built. Front wheel drive cars with their unibody construction just can't hold up to the rigors of police work. That is why there are still so many Crown Victorias still in service six years after the line was shut down.
In time police will go with electric vehicles, but it will be a long time before that happens. It will happen when the auto manufacturers stop making cheap gasoline powered vehicles. The Chargers will probably be gone within 10 years because the public will stop buying them. The Explorers, and other gas SUVs will probably be 10 years after that. At that point the police will have to buy electric.
There has never been an exclusive vehicle built for police work. Law enforcement doesn't buy enough cars at a high enough price point to justify the automakers building a vehicle just for them. In the 1980s the choice car was the Dodge Diplomat. Every one of them had its own personality. Some were slow pokers, others were fast. They were pretty crappy cars, but they were cheap and that is why they sold so many of them. Even though most municipal departments bought them, it wasn't enough to justify keeping the line open. Chevrolet and Ford took on the business with police versions of the Caprice (Whales) and Crown Victoria. After a few years it was just Ford with the Crown Victoria. When the Crown Victoria went away there were no rear wheel drives being built. Front wheel drive cars with their unibody construction just can't hold up to the rigors of police work. That is why there are still so many Crown Victorias still in service six years after the line was shut down.
Xenoilphobe
Well-Known Member
Xenoilphobe
Well-Known Member
Totally different mission set. If you read the article, the only electric one listed is the Zero MMX which was developed by a defense contractor but has not been bought or used by anyone. They say they developed it for US Special Operations forces but don't solve the problem of power and range for a unit that would be used in the field in austere conditions where a silent (or near silent) motorcycle might be useful. Electric motorcyles are pretty neat, but they come nowhere close to meeting the needs of military forces in the field (at least today)....
Tesla cop car would be a terrible idea, if anything breaks on it due to collision the car wont get fixed for 3-6 months. I hit a curb to avoid getting hit and my car is supposed to be in the shop for 6 months just to get 2 ball joints replaced and a steering rack that's on back order. If I regret buying on I can only imagin how a police department would feel after being a lot of them
This ^^^
electric cars underperform in high speed chases. First because ICE cars are more powerful at high speeds, second the lower the battery's state of charge, the lower the available power, third is overheating.
They may be better than ICE in the city though.
