Featured Image Credit: @ToddBertram1/Twitter

Bargersville Police Chief Todd Bertram shared a picture of his Tesla Model 3 police cruiser recently. The Bargersville Police Department in Indiana chose to purchase a Tesla Model 3 instead of a Dodge Charger after calculating the potential cost-savings of both vehicles.  

“Two big things that we were looking when shopping for cars were obviously cost and performance. Many times when you get a car that is in our cost price range, you sacrifice performance. With Tesla, the performance is better than the cars we are currently driving. It’s amazing, it’s smooth, it’s powerful, it handles great,” said Bertram back in January, reported a previous Tesmanian article.  

After having the car for almost a year, Bargersville’s Police Chief still seemed pleased with his Tesla Model 3. “Almost a year old and still beautiful only thing we have done is rear tires,” he said in a recent tweet, showing his seemingly pristine Tesla Model 3. 

Almost a year old and still beautiful only thing we have done is rear tires pic.twitter.com/HtjJFOpoZQ

— Todd Bertram (@ToddBertram1) June 29, 2020

Bertram predicted that his Tesla Model 3 could reach its break-even point in 19 months instead of 24 as previously forecasted, meaning the vehicle's cost savings were significant in the past year he has owned it. Bertram offered to post the Model 3’s updated cost-saving after presenting them to the council in a few weeks. 

Tesla enthusiast @Boeky72 shared Bargersville PD’s cost comparison between the Tesla Model 3 and Dodge Chargers. Based on the chart he shared, the Bargersville PD calculated that the Tesla Model 3’s rolling costs would be in the green by the third year of ownership. In contrast, the Dodge Charger’s rolling costs would be in the red the entire time of ownership, increasing steadily over the years. 

this was the estimate and comparison with a Dodge Charger pic.twitter.com/FQ92ViHLqK

— Boeky🔋🚗⚡️ (@Boeky72) June 30, 2020

According to local media outlet IndyStar, the potential cost-savings of a vehicle was a significant factor for the police department because Bargersville’s population was growing, meaning more officers would be needed in the future. 

“I need to hire a couple [of] guys at least in the next couple [of] years,” Bertram explained. “So the goal was to have a few Teslas that would reduce the amount of use in the budget so we could put that back in and pay for their salaries.”

Hat Tip: @ToddBertram1/Twitter