Tesla Model S Police Car's Battery Ran Dry During High Speed Chase

Danny Tse

I bet you didn't know there is a Tesla Model S police car.

The City of Fremont, California has one (the Tesla factory is located in Fremont) and during a car chase, the Tesla police car's battery ran dry.

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Police-Tesla-in-High-Speed-Pursuit-Runs-Low-on-Battery-Power-Fremont-561297591.html

Nightfall

According to a Fremont police spokesperson, Geneva Bosques, the Tesla hadn’t been recharged after the shift preceding Hartman’s.

Nightfall

I know it's easy to hate on electric cars, I love gas vehicles myself, but some of the Tesla models are pretty damn fast. In a world where I made really good money I would absolutely buy a P100D. Along side a gas car though, not exclusively.

mhardy6647

Electric vehicles have myriad advantages over I/C engine vehicles -- torque and mechanical simplicity being the primary ones. In the early age of cars, the fastest and most powerful models used either electric power or steam (external combustion).

That said, range anxiety, for me, trumps the advantages (at least in terms of using an electric as a primary vehicle). Teslas (and even other, lesser electrics, e.g., Leafs and Bolts) are amazingly common & popular around here. There is a lot of 'tech savvy' money around here, due mostly to the proximity of an Ivy League University (I presume). There is a Tesla fast charging station (what do they call 'em?) that's fairly conveniently located on the 'strip' of shopping centers just off of I-89 (less than 15 minutes from here)... but the terrain and the cold winters would make me nervous about depending on one, especially in the winter.

That said -- it's not like a police car couldn't run out of gas during a chase, either, you know?

Luddite that I am, I (still) think a plug-in hybrid, like the erstwhile Chevy Volt, is the best contemporary solution. One may recharge a plug-in at home, off of one's
photovoltaic system. Not fast, but the way I look at it, every kW-hr that doesn't come from a fossil-fueled power plant is a little less CO2 for the system to worry about.

And, for this thread -- I'll just overlook the begged question of the safety and the net environmental and even geopolitical impact(s) of lithium ion batteries

mhardy6647

oh, and in related electric conveyance news (?)...
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/25/764116748/australian-man-takes-motorized-suitcase-out-for-a-spin

Mikey081057

Did the perp stop and wait while laughing ?

mhardy6647

Guess the po' coulda gunned it at the last second, crashed into the perp and taken 'em all out in a final, kerosene-fueled blast of lithium battery glory...

Willow

I wouldn't be too worried about cold issues. I see at least 2-3 Model S every day up here and they drive them in the winter.

tonyb

Isn't a Tesla model S around 80K ? That's a huge chunk of change. I think more drive a car like that to make a statement, much like an Italian sports car, rather than for practical purposes.

Let's do some math. A Honda accord, nicely equipped, is about 40K. The remaining 40K difference buys a lot of gas. Let's say 40 bucks a tank, give or take, that's 1000 tanks of gas. Let's say you fill up 3 times a month, that's 333 months. Roughly 27 years worth. An accord is no slouch in the gas mileage department, and isn't a smog hog either. Your lawn mower probably throws out more Co2 .

Driving a Tesla isn't about saving money on gas or the environment. It's a statement car, like a Benz or Ferarri. A car so rich people can ease their conscience.

Police don't need fast cars anymore. Can't out run the radio.

mhardy6647

tonyb wrote: »

Isn't a Tesla model S around 80K ? That's a huge chunk of change. I think more drive a car like that to make a statement, much like an Italian sports car, rather than for practical purposes.

I think it was probably Tesla makin' the statement to Fremont, in this particular case.
At any rate, based on my years of involvement with municipal finances (in two different states now! ), the po get their ve-hickels at a pretty substantial discount. Not that they're cheap, but they're cheap for what they are.

Police don't need fast cars anymore. Can't out run the radio.

That's like sayin' police don't need donuts.

So... ummm... around here, they are all driving pretty evil looking Dodge Chargers (or whatever those things are called nowadays). I haven't seen many in Nissan Versas, you know?

pitdogg2

Our local police stopped using cars many years ago. They are now all larger Ford or Chevy SUV's with a COP interceptor motor 300+ HP. Yet NONE of them haul folks they arrest or pick up they call a van for that and stick them in the cage.

mhardy6647

pitdogg2 wrote: »

Our local police stopped using cars many years ago. They are now all larger Ford or Chevy SUV's with a COP interceptor motor 300+ HP. Yet NONE of them haul folks they arrest or pick up they call a van for that and stick them in the cage.

You know, it's funny, now that you mention it. Harvard had moved to SUVs years back; still see lots of cars in service even with local police up here in (northern) NH. The local police have a mixture (50/50, I think), a couple of (marked, black & white) Ford Edges and a couple of (unmarked, black on black) Chargers. The paradox hadn't dawned on me 'til I saw @pitdogg2's post!

In the US, choice of police vehicles - IMO - is all about intimidation.

Willow

https://www.rhinocarhire.ae/Blog/June-2019/Police-Cars-in-Dubai-New-2019-Dubai-Police-Cars.aspx

tonyb

Lot more open roads down by you Ivan. City dwellers....what's the point, you can't go fast anywhere for any length of time.

Even my suburb has chargers as police cars, waste of money IMHO.

tonyb

Willow wrote: »

https://www.rhinocarhire.ae/Blog/June-2019/Police-Cars-in-Dubai-New-2019-Dubai-Police-Cars.aspx

Ha, it's their money to waste I guess. Notice the number to call on the car, turn it upside down.

tonyb

mhardy6647 wrote: »

pitdogg2 wrote: »

Our local police stopped using cars many years ago. They are now all larger Ford or Chevy SUV's with a COP interceptor motor 300+ HP. Yet NONE of them haul folks they arrest or pick up they call a van for that and stick them in the cage.

You know, it's funny, now that you mention it. Harvard had moved to SUVs years back; still see lots of cars in service even with local police up here in (northern) NH. The local police have a mixture (50/50, I think), a couple of (marked, black & white) Ford Edges and a couple of (unmarked, black on black) Chargers. The paradox hadn't dawned on me 'til I saw @pitdogg2's post!

In the US, choice of police vehicles - IMO - is all about intimidation.

Of course it's about intimidation, would you listen to or respect them if it wasn't ? Much like parents intimidate their children to a point, a little fear of god is a good thing....up to a point that is, then it becomes abuse.

Even the way they dress is about being intimidating. You wouldn't listen to them if they dressed like the Village People would ya ?

motorhead43026

To outperfom the Tesla S P100D you would need to drop 1.5M on a Ferrari LaFerrari or 875 thousand on a Porsche 918 Spyder.

The P100D with full Ludacris mode I think is the area of $135,000.00.

Nightfall

tonyb wrote: »

Of course it's about intimidation, would you listen to or respect them if it wasn't ?

Yes and yes.

mhardy6647

tonyb wrote: »

[

Even the way they dress is about being intimidating. You wouldn't listen to them if they dressed like the Village People would ya ?

but, but, but... umm...


https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/f19d3d49-be22-4ca6-9903-64d86984fbf2

Willow

tonyb

motorhead43026 wrote: »

To outperfom the Tesla S P100D you would need to drop 1.5M on a Ferrari LaFerrari or 875 thousand on a Porsche 918 Spyder.

The P100D with full Ludacris mode I think is the area of $135,000.00.

It's not about performance, cops don't need that kind of performance. Especially these days , when they are adjusting their own rules for high speed chases and the surveillance state has taken leaps and bounds.

They also buy up military style vehicles, for what purpose ? Intimidation ? Fend off shoulder rocket launches, 50 cal. bullets ?

The intimidation aspect is to defend government from the likes of you, the average Joe citizen and the not so average crap starters. The angrier society gets, the more they beef up.

On the flipside, the 2nd amendment is there to protect you from the likes of them. A balancing act in reality. Don't upset the balance and everyone is good.

deronb1

They are not made for that kind of duty. After a few runs at the track, the battery gets too hot and power is greatly reduced.

Kex

Danny Tse wrote: »

I bet you didn't know there is a Tesla Model S police car...

Fun story!

L.A. is testing one, Denver has one, and Luxembourg has more than one.

In the case of Fremont, they reportedly paid about $61K before modifications, compared to $40K for the usual Ford Explorer, so it’s probably not a high performance version.

The car was reportedly at the end of its shift, and the previous user had neglected to charge it after their shift, so it was not fully charged to begin with. Secondly, it was in a high speed chase at speeds up to 120 mph. That drains power much faster than normal. A tow home was not required. A charging station was.

I’m intrigued to drive an electric vehicle for the first time, mostly because of the huge torque, but also regenerative braking (one pedal driving).

Dennis Gardner

The Tesla supercharger system is a farce. It takes 75 minutes to charge to 100%. No one wants to take more than 10 minutes to accomplish this mundane task.

It should have been a robotic battery swap station that is like a fast lube place to take care of swapping in a fully charged battery in 5 minutes. If that had been done across the country as the need was rolled out, Teslas would be in every garage that can afford one. Especially with the Model 3 being such a good performance/value. They are made to go 500k miles over their planned life on the chassis as they are. This seems like a simple engineering problem that could have been handled with ease, and may be the answer to keep the dealership business model in tact for years to come. Whoever does this better will win the electric car wars.

Kex

Dennis Gardner wrote: »

The Tesla supercharger system is a farce. It takes 75 minutes to charge to 100%. No one wants to take more than 10 minutes to accomplish this mundane task.

In my style of driving, for 350 days of the year, an electric vehicle would be charged at home, or at the final destination, overnight.

For the other 15 days of driving, I never drive more than 2-3 hours without a 30-60 minute pit stop for the driver and occupants. I would never need to limit an on the road stop to less than 30 minutes. The question for me would be whether or not those pit stops maintain sufficient charge to drive on longer excursions. My current main driver has a range of 500+ miles when driving on cruise control up to 90 mph, but in reality, it’s always at least half full before the next pit stop so I always go two stops between fills.

sucks2beme

Cop cars are about 90% chargers around here. Rest are Ford suv.
They do high speed pursuits here. And lots of shootouts.
The bad guys are well armed.
Welcome to Memphis. Be prepared to duck for cover.

WLDock

Here in the NW Indiana area, many cities have gone to Ford SUV's. The counties and state still have a lot of cars. The thing I hate about the State is they have unmarked white pickup trucks. Tonyb is right, they don't need fast cars if they have these. Most speed right by them and don't realize it until they hit them with the lights....Game over!

As far as Tesla's....I didn't think I would see many around here but I started seeing them all the time years ago. I guess living an hour away from Chi was the reason but...there is a guy on my street that has one. At work we have a couple of charge station and the Director drives a Tesla SUV....only fitting for company that has a solar division. Also, Meijer Supermarkets have Tesla Supercharger stations. I see cars there all the time coming off the highway. I live about two miles south.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkweMG1ecBs

verb

Our local municipality uses these. Chevrolet Caprice!

Nightfall

How about the Ford Galaxy? That was a pretty sweet cop car.

cmy330go

Dennis Gardner wrote: »

The Tesla supercharger system is a farce. It takes 75 minutes to charge to 100%. No one wants to take more than 10 minutes to accomplish this mundane task.

It should have been a robotic battery swap station that is like a fast lube place to take care of swapping in a fully charged battery in 5 minutes. If that had been done across the country as the need was rolled out, Teslas would be in every garage that can afford one. Especially with the Model 3 being such a good performance/value. They are made to go 500k miles over their planned life on the chassis as they are. This seems like a simple engineering problem that could have been handled with ease, and may be the answer to keep the dealership business model in tact for years to come. Whoever does this better will win the electric car wars.

False. The supercharging network is highly effective. There is seldom a need to charge to 100%. Like all lithium batteries they can be charged to roughly 80% way faster. Therefore it's not often that you need to stop more than 20-30min to make your destination or next charger. For example. Last week we took the wife's Model X from Des Moines to Chicago with just one 30min stop in Davenport.

Fast battery swaps were tested in a couple places, but were discontinued due to a lack of interest. Unless you are for some reason required to put on a ton of miles everyday, there is little advantage to it. Having a car that is topped off every morning from home-charging is more than adequate for the vast majority of drivers.

F1nut

Stopping for 30 minutes to charge would be a major issue for me. I can be in and out of a gas station in about 5 minutes.