Tesla is touting Westport’s new police car. The Teslerati blog says:
A Tesla Model 3 has been patrolling the streets of Westport, Connecticut, since January 2020. However, an inside look at how effective the Model 3’s performance is for the law enforcement agency has never been given. That is until Westport Police Department Chief Foti Koskinas gave 2 members of the Now You Know YouTube channel a peek of how patrolling the streets of the small Connecticut town in an electric police car is advantageous for those who look to protect the community….
“Chief Koskinas seems pleased with the Tesla’s performance during the first 8 months of ownership, and efficiency and performance seem to be the main factors in his happiness thus far.
Click here for the story. Click below for the video.
PS: Check out the YouTube comments too. My favorite: “Just Awesome, what a PD, Chief, Officers and Town. Sometimes it can feel lonely caring about this planet, but this kind of steps and thinking gives hope.” (Hat tip: Avi Kaner)
Tesla stock is down 15% in the premarket. It got crushed last Friday. Tesla’s loss last Friday was equal to losing the sale of 186,000 cars! Tesla will be having a lot of competition soon too. One analyst stated the stock will lose 96% of its value. I’m not sure I’d go that far.
If this were about cost and fuel efficiency, WPD would have switched to Priuses 20 years ago and half the fleet wouldn’t be Ford Explorers. Let’s call the Tesla what it is: a big boy toy bought with other people’s money by an overfunded police department.
Would have been helpful had you watched the show.
We have one of the best run towns in the entire United States. Your taxes haven’t gone up in years. Why insult our wonderful and efficient police department that protects all of us?
Priuses are hybrids. Teslas are fully electric. Hybrids (and full combustion) cars need to idle their engines all the time to keep the electronic equipment in police cars powered all the time. Full electric cars have no engine to idle, everything runs off the battery.
They cost more up front but balance it out over the life of the vehicle with lower maintenance costs from not running an engine 24/7.
Very Impressive “”
While it definitely is an extra expense that could go elsewhere, it is a huge step to see a police station go EV.
Kind of takes you back to the good ole days of George Nugent on patrol with his Harley tricycle.
Really informative video. Well worth watching. Westport seems to be on the cutting edge and well on its way to being carbon free by 2050. Kudos to the Chief and to Jim Marpe.
I applaud our police department for wanting to go electric but I find it personally offensive that they chose to do it with a Tesla. Westport already struggles with it’s image as a Gold Coast town saddled with privilege. Sometimes, toning it down and not flaunting something material that is seen as extravagant is appropriate. Just because it’s electric, doesn’t make it the right thing. I think it is unnecessarily ostentatious, regardless if it can be justified by saying it ultimately costs us less than what they would have otherwise bought because of gas savings and tax credits. The decision to buy such a car was tasteless, insensitive, unnecessary, and quite frankly, goes a long way in perpetuating what others already think about our town.