Cal cops: NO to Tesla

Just another reminder that we are still very early in the process of electrifying America's transportation systems.

 

They said yes to Ford, which is more suitable.

 

ford ev's?

 

I have to assume they mean the Mustang Mach or the Lightning truck.

 

Lightning truck the article says. Fort Bragg, there is a picture of one, have to keep scrolling past the ads. Once batteries are made fire proof, chargeable to 100% no degradation, and 20+ year life, things will go ev fast. I think it will happen with the incentives today allowing more research. Hope so.

 

I agree that those things would be good if they happened, but I think the truth is much simpler:

When the cost of owning and operating electric is clearly cheaper than petroleum, the shift will go fast.

 

Go to certain states, and you see signs saying:
Don't California MY -free soil state- (TX, TN, ID, etc...)

The tail wags both ways.
I'm content to let California, California.

If THEY can get it to work efficiently and cost effectively, then perhaps it will work in the real world - MAYBE.
I have a brother that's trapped behind the Tinsel Curtain and so I'd probably want another couple of 'the usual suspects' to also GO EV first.

EVs have a lot going for them.
They're fast, cheap to build, and nearly as reliable as their ICE counterparts.
The battery tech is coming on fast, but they're still not ready for prime time.
Too bad PHEVs are so expensive because 2 fuels are better than 1.

We will know that they have arrive real-world when out government stops giving out tax kickbacks to get people to drive them, and starts making Evangelists 'pay their fair share.'

 

The cleanliness and quietness of electric is also a big pull. Hop in car run to grocery store, no fumes, no oil, no gas, no warm up 19th century nonsense. Of course electric vehicles predate gas by quite a few years. But imo the oil ice is still a primitive machine even though just about perfected now.

 

California has one of the worst historical human rights records of any state, that should make those other states mentioned happy. Most of CA by area is republican. When is this one label fits all thing going to end?

 

they never made gassers fireproof and they sell fine.

20 year batteries? we're already there.

 

At some places having 10 cent per kwh electricity, it should be loved there already. But you’re absolutely right. This is still very new, usable electric cars, not golf carts.

 

OK, lifetime of owner. People are hypnotized by electric cars burning a house down in a flood. It’s a hill to climb, need to be fire proof because clearly gas burns like crazy, so fire proof electric sounds real good.

 

Looking at Ford.com: Explorers start at $39.755, and the Lightning..., uh, they don't say.

Somehow can't picture cops driving around in a pickup.

 

This is pretty predictable growing pains... A Tesla is more software than hardware... All the software configurations are for consumer use, not law enforcement use. Tesla could sell alot of cars to cops if they worked with them on creating software that helps them do their job. But you can't make those changes as an end user, those are changes that only Tesla has the ability to make.

 

Well, that's why I carefully wrote my statement as "owning and operating."

The cost of energy for operating an EV is easy for a very large slice of America.

But buying one in the first place is still far out of reach for many.

 

The article has a line that wants to make this about EVs not being ready, but what is making Teslas a poor choice for police in day to day ops has nothing to do with the drive train. These were the main drawbacks to the Model 3/Y given by the two chiefs:

• There is only one company converting Teslas for police duty. That means higher prices, and wait times.
• Once the prisoner barrier and other equipment is added, plus the gear carried by the cop, the cabin becomes cramped.
• Low ground clearance. Police sometimes have to leave the road. The Teslas are likely less capable in that regard than the old Crown Vic.
• Service could be problematic with Tesla. The town garage likely can't to the work.
• The touchscreen only controls can be a hassle for adjusting things that don't come up often for private owners. Plus the car could be shared by more than 2 drivers.

There are issues from the EV side to consider. One is the logistics from long trips, which doesn't seem like something that will come up often for town cops. Things like prisoner transport do need to be considered for the fleet, but isn't a reason to discount BEVs for all roles. There was issues with chargers, but that was from the town getting the EVs without considering how they wanted to handle them.

The third chief happy with the EVs chose the Lightning cause it's mostly the same as the gas F150. Plenty of vendors for aftermarket add ons. Their tech can do most of the work on them. The chief was also onboard with getting EVs, and had chargers installed before they got the trucks.

They might be loved there. For most people, the vehicle price is the hurdle, while lifetime cost could be less. The US likely won't let the competition in that would drive the prices down.

Some places do. City cops ae mostly driving around in the fleet version of the Explorer, so the F150 isn't a big leap.

The Lightning starts at $63k here. Cheapest ICE model in function is $50k

 

Ford Lightnings are relativity cheap on the used car market. Probably construction people buying them, thinking they won't need to rent a generator for their worksite. They find out that they still need the generator on the worksite or they're walking home - so it gets traded-in.
It'll be interesting to see how the Mach-E's hold up and how often they'll have to replace the battery packs since the majority of them will be fast charged.

 

The complainers:

SFGATE spoke with three police chiefs from Northern California cities who have independently come to the same conclusion: Teslas are not equipped to handle the demands of modern policing.​

Simply mandate that car patrol officers pay for the gas, oil, and maintenance they use. They then submit and get reimbursed for these expenses. Actually any scheme where their income is tied to the operational cost of their vehicles.

Bob Wilson