Cop Cars Go Electric: LA County Department Has Nation's First All-EV Fleet

SOUTH PASADENA, CA — The South Pasadena Police Department on Monday unveiled a fleet of 20 new Tesla police cruisers, making it the nation's first law enforcement agency to completely replace its gas-powered vehicles with electric ones, according to the city.

The transition came as the city's aging gas-powered fleet of police vehicles was at the end of its lifespan. After crunching the numbers and carefully examining other factors, police officials determined it was "Tesla or nothing," said Sgt. Tony Abdulla, who oversaw the project.

"We got a much better performing car that costs significantly less to maintain and fuel and also the benefit of the zero-admission aspect," Abdulla said in a video. "Initially there were concerns from the community about why we were paying so much for a car, but the total cost of ownership over a 10-year period is significantly less than" traditional gas-powered vehicles.

Today, the SPPD is proud to announce the conversion of our entire gas-powered fleet, all at once, to @Tesla battery electric vehicles by @UpfitTesla. We reached this decision because we wanted the safest and most capable vehicle for the job, lowest total cost of ownership, and… pic.twitter.com/l5RMfChdGe
— South Pasadena PD (@southpaspd) July 29, 2024

The vehicles — which consist of 10 Model Y SUVs as patrol vehicles and 10 Model 3 sedans for detectives and administrative duties — are expected to save about $4,000 per year on energy costs, along with additional savings on maintenance, South Pasadena officials said.

Overall, the cost of the Teslas will be at least half the per-mile cost of gas-powered cruisers, officials said.

Charging infrastructure is a key piece of South Pasadena's transition: The city built 34 chargers at City Hall, which required upgrades by SoCal Edison to increase electricity capacity in the area, officials said.

Additionally, the Clean Power Alliance’s Power Ready Program provided a solar and battery storage system at city hall, which will allow vehicle charging during power outages, officials said.

That was installed at no cost to the city. Overall, over half the cost of the electrification project is being covered by outside sources, including work performed by SoCal Edison.

Th city's net expense is $1.85 million, which covers the cost of the EV chargers and lease payments to the fleet management company, officials said.