The Tesla Model Y made its debut as a police car for the first time in Westchester County, New York. The Hastings-on-Hudson police department is the first police department in the world to use the Model Y. Other police departments around the US have successfully implemented other models of these luxury, eco-friendly patrol cars.
Model Y’s will be primarily used by the department’s detective division. To make these cars workable in a law enforcement setting, they’ve been outfitted with lights, sirens, and a police radio. There are also officer safety features and the electricity-powered engine that makes Tesla such a popular choice.
The police department believes that the fuel efficiency of the Tesla police car will save them $8,525 dollars over 5 years. They cited these savings as a major motivation for the switch.
The Hastings police department in New York is the first to use Model Y police cars. However, some other departments throughout the United States have been using Model 3 police cars for some time. These Tesla police cars made the news when a Fresno, California police department Tesla ran out of power in the middle of a car chase. Bargersville, Indiana also has an updated police car fleet with Tesla Model 3s.
Like Model Y’s, the police departments using Model 3’s claim that using Tesla police cars save thousands annually in gas costs. After some backlash regarding the Model Y’s in New York, a Telsa fan account retweeted a graphic of numbers from 2019 when the Bargersville police department made the switch.
The Fresno and Spokane police departments have also purchased some Model Y’s looking to make the switch to the newer Tesla models in 2021.
Neither Elon Musk, Tesla’s famously eccentric CEO nor the brand’s official social media pages weighed in on this latest development for the Tesla brand. Nor has any official source commented on the backlash surrounding it.
