This City Has The First Fully Electric Police Fleet In The U.S.

With the switch to all-electric, the City of South Pasadena is projecting cost savings of about $400,000 over ten years.

South Pasadena Tesla Model Y police patrol vehicle

Photo by: CIty of South Pasadena

Iulian Dnistran

By: Iulian Dnistran

Jul 30, 2024 at 1:00pm ET

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South Pasadena, California is the first city in the United States to replace its gas-burning police fleet with all-electric vehicles. The department announced it would switch to EVs last year and now it followed through with the addition of 20 brand-new Tesla EVs and almost three dozen chargers.

There are 10 Model Y patrol vehicles and 10 Model 3 EVs that will be used for detective and administrative duties. All of them were leased on a 60-month contract and then modified by Unplugged Performance's Up.Fit division.

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The silent police patrol vehicles

South Pasadena police officers now have another ace up their hands in the form of silent all-electric police vehicles. The city replaced the old gas-burning police fleet with 20 brand-new Tesla EVs, which will help it reduce costs by about $400,000 over ten years.

To have the 20-strong fleet of all-electric police cruisers ready at any time, the city also installed 34 Level 2 chargers at the Police Department and Fire Department, with 14 of them set to be available for public use. A Level 3 DC fast charger will be installed in the Police Department parking lot to make those charging stops quicker.

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Furthermore, South Pasadena partnered with the Clean Power Alliance (CPA) Power Ready program to install solar panels and battery storage which will funnel clean electricity into the new electric police cars and act as a backup in the case of an outage.

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The switch to EV will lead to savings of approximately $400,000 over ten years, the city of South Pasadena said, with the decision to transition to a battery-powered police fleet being “a no-brainer.” Operational costs are expected to be around half on a per-mile basis compared to the old gas-powered police cruisers.

“Switching to these vehicles offers the Police Department the opportunity to acquire a cutting-edge vehicle fleet,” said South Pasadena Police Chief Brian Solinsky. “This initiative not only ensures the safest vehicles for officers and staff but also leads to substantial reductions in both fuel and maintenance costs. This transition enhances service levels for the residents of South Pasadena by minimizing maintenance downtime commonly seen with gas engines.”

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