Police Swap Dodge Charger For Tesla Model S

TheLAPD may have passedon the prospect ofpressing the Tesla Model S into service, but another city in California is embracing the idea. It's Tesla's home town of Freemont, and it's piloting a program to turn its home-grown electric vehicle into a police cruiser.

The town of over a quarter-million in the San Francisco Bay Area purchased a single, second-hand 2014Tesla Model S85 a year ago and is evaluating it as a replacement for a long-serving 2007Dodge Chargerthat it's putting to pasture. It's since been working with suppliers to upgrade it for police duty.

Modifications include a light bar on the roof, push-bar bumper on the nose, and ballistic barriers to better protect the officers on board from gunfire.

The city says it purchased the vehicle for $61,478.50, and has so far put in $4,447 in modifications – costs which "are expected to increase as final invoices come in." By comparison, Freemont Police notes, aFord Explorer-based警察Interceptor Utilitycosts about $40k, but has more police-equipment upgrades already available. Fortunately the city's police headquarters already has three charging stations and an array of solar panels already installed and ready to keep the Tesla juiced up in between patrols.