US police recognize the arresting qualities of the EV

A well-documented article in The Atlantic, “Get ready for Tesla cops”, is about how more and more police departments in the United States are replacing patrol cars with EVs, based on better performance and lower running costs.

The price of an EV is still somewhat higher than its petrol or diesel counterpart, but their range is increasingly higher and more than sufficient for a city-based patrol car, and above all, they offer huge fuel savings and much lower maintenance costs. It’s basically a no-brainer.

The reasoning of police departments is logical, even if these decision-makers tend to be more conservative and therefore skeptical about the advantages of EVs (the technology has been absurdly politicized in the United States, and deeply divides Democrats and Republicans), and has nothing to do with the environment or reducing emissions. Police departments in at least thirty-eight states have already purchased, tested, or deployed all-electric vehicles, and while electric patrol cars are not yet the norm, that is primarily due to the amortization time of older vehicles. In many cities, the percentage of electric vehicles in police fleets is still less common than among the general population, but their numbers are clearly increasing.