You all remember the Fremont, California police department and the news of it adding a Tesla Model S into the lineup of patrol cars, right? How well do you think it would have fared during a high-speed car chase? Well, we were able to find out because Tesla Model S was part of a high-speed car chase last week conducted by Fremont Police Department.
It, however, was unable to deliver. This is no fault of Tesla, though. The police officer who was driving the vehicle during the high-speed chase was able to maintain speeds of 120 miles per hour but noticed that the battery of his Tesla Model S was running out of juice. This led the office to radio to the dispatcher for more coverage while stating that he might not be able to continue to the chase.
Officer Jesse Hartman said, ‘I am down to six miles of battery on the Tesla so I may lose it here in a sec. If someone else is able, can they maneuver into the number one spot?’ Before any other police officer could take the lead for this chase, the eight-minute-long chase was called off since cars entered areas with traffic. The officer had to make a stop for charging the vehicle up before coming back to the precinct.
Geneva Bosques, who is a Fremont police department spokeswoman said that the officer on the previous shift had forgotten to charge the vehicle. This led to the unfortunate incident where the battery of Tesla was lower than usual. She didn’t give any more details about the incident.
The Fremont Police Department had added Tesla to its pool of patrol cars in January. Its website says, ‘In an effort to improve efficiency, Fremont Police has transitioned part of its fleet from gas-powered vehicles to hybrid vehicles. Since 2009, the department began using Toyota Prius and Ford Fusion hybrid vehicles. In 2019, Fremont Police will deploy its first fully electric-powered vehicle as part of its patrol fleet.’