Bummer: PRC Police Realize EVs Virtually Unusable

The focus her is on Tesla, but, really, this applies to all EVs

California Cops Are Finding Out Teslas Are ‘Nearly Unusable’ As Police Cruises

Police in California are experiencing what happens when good intentions crash into reality. Police departments are transitioning to battery powered vehicles but those vehicles come with challenges that make cops’ jobs more difficult.

Good intentions? Why are the politicians requiring this not driving EVs for the most part?

California is all in on an electric future, planning to ban the sale of gas and diesel powered cars starting in 2035. To get ready for this brave new world some police departments started with buying a few Teslas. These departments immediately ran into serious problems using the vehicles as cruisers, such as a lack of charging infrastructure, inadequate interior space, expensive and lengthy retrofitting processes, interference from advanced driver safety assistance systems and more. Police Chief Cedric Crook for the Ukiah, California police department told San Francisco Gate he doesn’t think the department’s Model 3s will see action any time soon:

The car has other issues, namely size. Tesla back seats “only have room for one prisoner,” Crook said, limiting an officer’s ability to sequester suspects. With an all-Tesla police force, Crook believes incidents involving more than one party will require more officers to respond with more cars, putting strain on resources, all because of the tiny back seat. (snip)

Another concern Crook has about Teslas, and EVs broadly, comes from an essential lesson he was taught in the police academy: “In a firefight, hide behind the engine block.” In a Tesla, there is no engine block, leaving officers without their preferred cover, he said.

There’s also the issue of charging. While public chargers are on the rise, police have struggled to find and use them. And they say that stopping to charge while on a long haul with a dangerous suspect can put officers at undue risk. The Model Y is not much better than the Model 3, according to Menlo Park officers. Problems include cramped spaces for cops in bullet proof vests and duty belts leavelittle room for comfort and an inability to do cop things like jump curbs due to Autopilot programing.

The heck you say! There isn’t all that much room to put a perp in the back seat, especially if the cage with spit guard is installed.

But there is an obvious option here: Don’t use a Tesla. The Fort Bragg Police Department told SFGate using a F-150 Lightning as a patrol vehicle makes a lot more sense.

A Ford Explorer Police Edition will be under $60K, built to certain specification of strength, speed, able to do things like pit manuevers. A Lightning civilian edition runs upwards of $95K, and they would have to have the same modifications to be usable. The actual obvious answer is to use the best vehicle for the job. If fossil fueled vehicles are good enough for the politicians, they should be good enough for the people who have to deal with criminals and put their lives on the line.

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