The Irvine, California Police Department has acquired a Tesla Cybertruck for its fleet. The vehicle is expected to be used by the police department as part of its Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) unit.
In a comment to Forbes, Sergeant Karie Davies noted that the Cybertruck was paid for using Irvine’s fleet funds account. Overall, the publication noted that Irvine’s Cybertruck cost over $150,000, comprised of $119,000 for a Cyberbeast Foundation Series unit and UP.FIT police modifications from Tesla tuning house Unplugged Performance.
Woop woop
— Cybertruck (@cybertruck) September 10, 2024
Davies also noted that the Cybertruck could be used to highlight the department’s DARE events. “It’s something we can highlight at our events (where) kids can come and take pictures,” Davies stated.
With Unplugged Performance’s UP.FIT modifications, the Irvine Police Department’s Cyberbeast would be more than capable of operating as a regular patrol unit. The Cybertruck, after all, has a large 123 kWh battery and enough power to play on the same level as comparable combustion-powered patrol vehicles. A recent collaboration between UP.FIT and fleet management platform Standard Fleet also allows police departments to manage their EV fleet easily.
— ChaCha 𝕏 (@chacha72kobe4er) September 11, 2024
Irvine is not the only city that uses a Cybertruck for police use. Back in July, the Greenfield Police Department in California announced that it was adding several Tesla vehicles to its fleet. Among them is a Cybertruck, which was also outfitted with modifications from UP.FIT. Over in Dubai, the Cybertruck is being used as part of the city’s tourist police luxury patrol fleet.
Teslas are starting to become the vehicles of choice for police departments, partly due to the fact that they are capable cars that are incredibly affordable to run. As per the South Pasadena Police Department, which uses Model Y police vehicles for its fleet, Teslas are the best police vehicles because they provide so much operating and maintenance savings compared to their combustion-powered counterparts.
“Tesla was not only a viable option, but it was the best option. We got a much better performing car that costs significantly less to maintain and fuel. Our admin fleet in the first year had absolutely no maintenance associated with it,” the South Pasadena PD noted.
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