Blog Tesla Police Car Runs Out of Battery During Chase

A police officer’s Tesla Model S patrol car in Fremont, Calif. ran out of battery while pursuing a suspect. 

Police said the chase was called off when the suspect started driving in a dangerous manner. The suspect’s car was later found abandoned. 

Geneva Bosques, a spokeswoman for the Fremont Police Department, told the Los Angeles Times that the Tesla’s battery had lasted almost two shifts, and wasn’t charged at the beginning of the officer’s shift. 

“This unfortunately happens from time to time even in our vehicles that run on gas, if they aren’t re-fueled at the end of a shift,” Bosques told the Los Angeles Times. “This incident was truly no different than a vehicle running out of gas and a good reminder to our officers that they should have a full tank or charge to ensure they can make it the entire 11 hours of their shift.”

She said the Tesla had performed well in a previous chase.

 

[Dmagyar]

What's that, there's a indicator of battery capacity? Can't be...

 

[axhoaxho]

Yes, I saw the news everywhere..... To be fair, FPD stated that the Model S battery charge lasted almost two shifts, and was not charged at the beginning of the officer's shift.

I 'think' that is a 2014 Model S 85, with 265 miles range?

If I were Musk, I would offer FPD to trade-in the 2014 with a 2019 Model S Long Range (370 miles range) and install a Supercharger at the FPD station...

.... Turn this into a 'positive marketing opportunity,' and pave the road for the market of suppling Tesla fleet vehicles to the Law Enforcement departments...

Geneva Bosques, a spokeswoman for the Fremont Police Department, told the Los Angeles Times that the Tesla’s battery had lasted almost two shifts, and wasn’t charged at the beginning of the officer’s shift.

 

[dethman]

 

[Smog free]

How is this any different from a Police cruiser running out of gas during a chase?
Tesla Model S range: 370 miles
Ford Crown Victoria Police Special range: 304 city/456 hwy - Average: 380 miles
The Tesla would be fully charged at the beginning of every shift.
The gas powered cruiser would NOT have a full tank every morning.
They fill it when it get to 1/4 tank.
Therefore it would be far more likely that the gas vehicle would run out of gas before the Tesla would run out of battery.

 

[Brando]

POLICE SHOULD ALMOST NEVER CHASER.
Lights & SIREN inform the suspect to stop.
USE RADIO. Call ahead.

WHY? Chases are very dangerous - for police, suspect AND the PUBLIC including children.

How do officers die while on duty?

Most years, auto accidents -motor vehicle-related incidents — including crashes — are the main cause of death for officers.
(2016 was an anomaly in that motor vehicle-related deaths came second to firearm).
From 2007-2016: 1,512 officer line-of-duty deaths.

PS - Police kill (mostly shootings?) about 1,000 people per year. Why don't we have better stats?? FBI, who keeps crime statistics, refuses to track police shootings nor killings of the public. You tell me why.

Do your own google searches, just one example:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/inve...b3b098-020f-11e9-9122-82e98f91ee6f_story.html

 

[Trunk Gap]

How is this any different from a Police cruiser running out of gas during a chase?
Tesla Model S range: 370 miles
Ford Crown Victoria Police Special range: 304 city/456 hwy - Average: 380 miles
The Tesla would be fully charged at the beginning of every shift.
The gas powered cruiser would NOT have a full tank every morning.
They fill it when it get to 1/4 tank.
Therefore it would be far more likely that the gas vehicle would run out of gas before the Tesla would run out of battery.

Hahaha good point it’s literally the exact same thing. You can look down and see, low gas. You can look down and see, low battery. HELLO moron! Wild what the news/headlines report on, and how they report it. Her statement is way better than the title.

Chalk this up to one idiot cop, and that’s it.

 

[seaner]

Why is this a story?

 

[timk225]

Why is this a story?

It is a story because Tesla doesn't pay corporate media outlets to advertise, so corporate media outlets are doing all they can to get back at Tesla for not buying positive news stories on their cars.

It's a big bribery / pay-to-play thing, and Tesla doesn't need their ads to be a player!

 

[RAW84]

The Tesla would be fully charged at the beginning of every shift.
The gas powered cruiser would NOT have a full tank every morning.

This is a funny statement considering the Tesla was not fully charged at the beginning of the shift in this instance.

A policy change that required full refueling before (or at the end of) every shift seems like it would be easier to adhere to using a gas car.

 

[JasonA-EV]

i heard that regular gas cars can also run out of fuel also!

Dunno, something I've heard..

 

[Az_Rael]

How is this any different from a Police cruiser running out of gas during a chase?
Tesla Model S range: 370 miles

The police cruiser in question is a pre-facelift Model S, so there is no way it had 370 mile range.

 

[dethman]

Why is this a story?

Because it's hilarious.

 

[Videographer]

The city of Los Angeles bought a bunch of Chevy Volts for their car fleet. After a few years, they went out to auction, as happens to older fleet cars. When examined, it was discovered that almost *none* of them had ever been plugged in.

Not *once.*

C'mon, people, it isn't that hard.

 

[timk225]

I've read that police departments don't want applicants that are too smart, because cop work would be boring to them. And I can understand that, I'd get bored quickly, and am not hypocritical enough to hand out speeding tickets when I speed a lot myself. They want people who will enforce laws without questioning them. So I'd be a poor choice.

The point is that cops are generally not of the Tesla mindset and not up to speed on the technical details of them.

 

[hill]

This is like the novelty of battery cars catching fire. Maybe after enough battery cars catch fire it'll be as ubiquitous as gassers ...... and, like the gasser police car running out of gas, which they do, once it happens to enough battery cars - the media will no longer get a stiffy from the novelty. Our city per capita is always on the top 10 safest to live in. So, it makes the newspaper when it happens in whatever year. Murder in LA? Many of them never make the news.
.

 

[brianman]

The city of Los Angeles bought a bunch of Chevy Volts for their car fleet. After a few years, they went out to auction, as happens to older fleet cars. When examined, it was discovered that almost *none* of them had ever been plugged in.

Not *once.*

C'mon, people, it isn't that hard.

This isn't an EV problem. It's a hybrid problem.

 

[Russell]

A police officer’s Tesla Model S patrol car in Fremont, Calif. ran out of battery while pursuing a suspect. Police said the chase was called off when the suspect started driving in a dangerous manner. The suspect’s car was later found abandoned. Geneva Bosques, a spokeswoman for the Fremont Police Department, told the Los Angeles...
[WPURI="https://teslamotorsclub.com/blog/2019/09/25/tesla-police-car-runs-out-of-battery-during-chase/"]READ FULL ARTICLE[/WPURI]

Is this the New York Times? The car did not run out of juice. It was low on juice.

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


“This unfortunately happens from time to time even in our vehicles that run on gas, if they aren’t re-fueled at the end of a shift,” Bosques said. “This incident was truly no different than a vehicle running out of gas..."

 

[thecloud]

Is this the New York Times? The car did not run out of juice. It was low on juice.

Exactly. The title of this post would be more accurately stated as:

Tesla Police Car Runs Low on Battery During Chase

But that wouldn't sound nearly as dramatic. So let's try this one:

Tesla Police Car Pushes Battery to the Max During Dangerous 120 MPH Chase on Local Highway

which is possibly more accurate.

 

[AMPd]

Cool non story.

The fact is had they actually ran out of juice another vehicle will take the lead

No issue whatsoever.