Police Chief says Tesla Model 3 squad cars pay for themselves faster than expected

A police chief who pushed Tesla Model 3 vehicles to electrify his department’s patrol cars now says the EVs could pay for themselves in less than two years.

Last year we recorded an upgrade of their fleet with Tesla Model 3 vehicles on the Bargersville, Indiana, police department.

Bargersville Chief of Police Todd Bertram commented:

Two big things that we were looking at when shopping for cars were obviously cost and performance. Many times when you get a car that is in our cost price range, you sacrifice performance. With Tesla, the performance is better than the cars we are currently driving. It’s amazing, it’s smooth, it’s powerful, it handles great.

The Model 3s have replaced Dodge Chargers, so performance will not be a concern.

As for cost, Tesla also has a substantial lead. The version of the Model 3 Standard Range Plus they purchased is a little more expensive than the Dodge Charger at ~$41,000, but they expect gas savings of about $6,000 per year, which means the Model 3 will pay for itself throughout its lifetime.

They usually keep their cars for six years, and after breaking down the economy, they decided that with the Model 3, they’ll save around $20,000 per car.

It includes not only gas savings but also some major maintenance savings. In about two years they expected the electric vehicles would pay for themselves.

Bertram now believes after having the vehicles for a few months that the return on investment can happen as quickly as 19-months.

Previously, he wrote on Twitter:

That’s 20 percent faster than the originally planned timeline, which was already aggressive.

The Bargersville, Indiana, police department last year bought their first 5 Model 3 vehicles but their fleet is expected to continue to be updated.

There are about a dozen police departments with Tesla vehicles going electric at this stage.

The Fremont Police Department has converted a former Tesla Model S to a patrol vehicle in Tesla’s own backyard.

Two Model S sedans were converted to patrol cars by the Luxembourg Police, and Switzerland is home to the largest number of Tesla police patrol vehicles.

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