Tesla Police Car Loses Juice while in Pursuit: Throwback Thursday
Tesla Model S was used as part of pilot program to determine viability of EVs as police cruisers. We’re guessing this won’t make the fleet.
Obviously we don’t want a criminal getting away from the long arm of the law, especially in a high-speed chase. But we couldn’t help but laugh a little at Elon Musk’s expense when we heard that a Tesla cop car ran out of power during a chase. Recently in San Jose, California, a Fremont Police Department Tesla Model S had to break from its chase because its battery was about to die.
Officer Jesse Hartman was the unfortunate soul behind the wheel of the failing Tesla when he was in hot pursuit of a “felony vehicle” bolting from Fremont. Speeds reached 120 mph on the highway during the chase, but the felon had more juice in their ride compared to the black-and-white EV behind it.
“I am down to six miles of battery on the Tesla so I may lose it here in a sec,” Hartman reportedly told his fellow officers over the radio, according to The Mercury News. “If someone else is able, can they maneuver into the number one spot?”
“I’ve got to try to find a charging station for the Tesla so I can make it back to the city,” Hartman said after the eight-minute chase was called off due to the felon rolling into heavy traffic. Hartman eventually plugged in the EV into a charger in San Jose before (silently) rolling back to HQ.
But why did Hartman find himself in such an embarrassing situation in the first place?
According to Fremont PD representative Geneva Bosques, the Tesla’s battery was at a lower level than usual, though she didn’t know why it was left like that for the officer. You’d think the department would have at least pulled a Formula E by buying two Teslas, right?
Probably not without annoying taxpayers. Per The Mercury News, the sole Tesla police car, a 2014 model, was purchased for $61,000 from Tesla in 2018. A year was then spent preparing it for its two-pronged duty: keep the streets of Fremont safe, and determine if EVs are a viable option for police work in the first place.
Though the experiment is $20,000 more than a factory-prepped Ford Police Interceptor Utility, the department hopes to save on fuel and maintenance costs with the Tesla. Back in July, Captain Sean Washington said the car was able to take on a pursuit with relative ease, and was “easily able to make it through an 11-hour shift with battery power to spare,” usually in the 40% to 50% range.
Except for this one time, of course.
Photos: Fremont Police Department/Facebook
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