Photo: Ricki Pryor /Richmond Register
Three Tesla Model 3s purchased by Berea Police Department in Kentucky saved $24,000 on fuel and maintenance in just one year. According to the police chief, the savings were even greater than originally expected.
Berea, KY, Police Chief Eric Scott made the decision to buy Tesla police cruisers after seeing a 2021 Super Bowl ad for electric vehicles, according to CleanTechnica. In early March 2021, his police department purchased four Tesla Model 3s, three of which are used as cruisers. Now that a year has passed since the start of use, the police department has received real results that can be evaluated.
Chief Scott noted that perhaps the biggest benefit was the money saved by going electric. The three Tesla Model 3 cruisers are estimated to have saved about $24,000 in fuel and maintenance costs in a year. He said the savings were even larger than expected. He hopes other city departments will introduce electric vehicles to their fleets, and that the data obtained by Berea PD will help make that decision.
“The savings were more than we anticipated,” said police chief Scott. “It was due to our brakes. We have high performance brakes on our police vehicles. Throughout the course of a year, we will put $2,000 of brakes on one vehicle. The regenerative braking of the Tesla completely dissolved that cost for us and that is something that we weren’t expecting.”
Scott noted that the transition was relatively easy for the officers. For these first few cars, he chose officers who were well-versed in technology. They learned how to properly charge cars between shifts of varying lengths to keep vehicles charged. Evolve KY installed six Level 2 chargers for exclusive police use at the police station and also placed several in the community.
“It went great, the perspective of our officers was they loved it,” Chief Scott said of the officers assigned to the Teslas. “It was cool, unique, they love gadgets and in our world technology has been taken over.”
© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.
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About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
