Police departments coast to coast are going electric — pursuing savings and efficiency along with bad guys
By Brendan Keefe and Emily Featherston
Published: Aug. 5, 2024 at 1:45 PM CDT
(Atlanta News First/InvestigateTV) – The Dodge Charger Pursuit, the gold standard among police cruisers, can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in around 6.4 seconds — but many electric vehicles can make that speed in half that time, potentially out-running a police pursuit.
According to law enforcement testing, a 2024 Kia EV6 GT gets to 60 MPH in 3.2 seconds and has a higher top speed than a standard police car. The fastest Tesla models accelerate from zero to 60 MPH in well under three seconds. Several models, including the Rivian pick-up truck, can get to 60 MPH in two and a half seconds.
The concern among law enforcement is that when someone behind the wheel of one of those super-fast EVs chooses to flee, officers driving a gas-powered pursuit vehicle may be outmatched in acceleration.
And those concerns are not unfounded — controlled tests have shown electric vehicles easily outrunning even state troopers.
During a pursuit in West Memphis, Arkansas, a state trooper attempted a tactical vehicle immobilization technique known as a PIT maneuver twice in attempts to stop a fleeing Tesla Model Y, but both times the vehicle accelerated out of reach and was only stopped after driving over a tire-deflation device.
Departments across the country have begun adding EVs to their fleets — some going nearly all-electric — with officers clamoring to get behind the wheel of the new EVs because of the performance characteristics, and jurisdictions eyeing the significant cost savings over time.
Speed when seconds count
“This would be a great vehicle to have if you’re engaged in highway pursuits,” said Georgia Tech campus police lieutenant Jessica Howard. “Just because of how quickly it can get to that speed … this vehicle would definitely be my go-to if I was doing highway pursuits.”
Georgia Tech Police generally don’t engage in highway pursuits, but they do patrol an urban environment where seconds count when responding to high-priority calls. GTPD’s jurisdiction extends 500 yards beyond the campus border where they often respond along with the Atlanta Police Department.
A police chase in June near Georgia Tech sent Atlanta police officers after suspects in a shooting who were fleeing in a Tesla.
During the pursuit, officers briefly lost sight of the Tesla, which was exceeding speeds of 70 MPH on city streets. If not for a police helicopter tracking the vehicle — and heavy traffic that eventually stymied the suspects’ car causing the driver to lose control — officers may never have caught up with it.
Now, three new electric police cars are patrolling the school’s Atlanta campus, with the department assigning its new Mustang Mach-E GT models to patrol officers.
“It’s extremely fast,” Lt. Howard said as she sat behind the wheel of one unit.
From California to Maine, in both big cities and small towns, law enforcement departments are making a similar choice, with all-electric models increasingly patrolling the streets.
In some cases, the proof is in the pursuit: A Logan, Ohio police officer driving a Tesla Model Y was able to keep pace with a Ford Mustang for nearly 45 minutes before the officer decided to call off the chase for safety reasons. The suspect was not apprehended, and the owner later reported the Mustang stolen, but the officer’s dashboard camera captured his electric vehicle’s ability to accelerate quickly and keep pace with the muscle car.
Even the United States Department of Justice has looked at the pros and cons of transitioning to electric law enforcement vehicles.
Going and saving green
For some departments, the primary motivation behind adopting the use of electric vehicles is green, not mean.
Georgia Tech Police worked with a student group, Electrify GT, to find the best patrol car to meet Georgia Tech’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
Multiple jurisdictions in Vermont have made use of state and federal environmental grants to invest in police EVs as the state pushes for lofty electric vehicle targets. And across the border, the Canadian government has moved to replace as many of the vehicles used by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as possible by 2035.
On top of the environmental benefits, EVs also save a lot of green when it comes to the budget.
Research from an environmental group in New Hampshire found taxpayer savings of $5,000 per year for each police vehicle replaced.
Georgia Tech estimates an almost $4,000 savings in fuel costs alone for each of its EVs.
Lifetime estimated maintenance costs are also half those of patrol cars powered by internal combustion engines due to the more simplistic design of electric motors.
The savings are easy to sell to the decision-makers and to taxpayers. The police department in Brookhaven, Georgia invested heavily in electric police cars after a pilot program that involved converting a seized Tesla into a police car that proved the efficiency and the savings of EVs.
Despite shortcomings, U.S. fleet continues to trend electric
The electric Mustangs do have some drawbacks compared with their internal combustion counterparts.
Charging requirements can create response issues — a Tesla Model S driven by a police officer in Fremont, California nearly ran out of battery in the middle of a pursuit. State highway patrol took over the high-speed chase, but the fleeing vehicle got away after the pursuit was “called off for safety.”
The driver was eventually caught by highway patrol while the Fremont officer charged his vehicle.
While noting that charging realities can create problems, Fremont has remained committed to its electric fleet.
Other problems are more specific to the interior design of electric vehicles — there’s often no room for a divider between the back seat and the officer behind the wheel, so officers in the EVs have to call another unit to transport arrestees.
Still, the tide appears to be turning.
Dodge recently discontinued the Charger which has been many police departments’ mainstay in favor of focusing on electric models, and it’s not clear what vehicle may replace the long-standing champion of departments nationwide.
Michigan State Police conduct an annual test of police vehicles that this year included only SUVs and pick-up trucks. For the first time in memory, there was no police patrol sedan in the test at all.
Two electric patrol cars bested the rest of the fleet in acceleration: Ford’s Mustang Mach-E GT and Chevrolet’s new Blazer EV Police Pursuit Vehicle. A hybrid gas/electric patrol car also performed well.
“I envision the entire fleet at some point will be electric,” Georgia Tech’s Lt. Howard said. “Over time, other departments will be on board with transitioning to electric vehicles, or a form of electric vehicle, including hybrids, as long as it’s effective and operational within their agencies.”
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