[Editor’s Note: The following was written with the assistance of JasperAI but edited and published by real human beings.]
Sgt. Abdalla, a 33-plus-year veteran, currently serves the city of South Pasadena as its “EV conversion project lead” in addition to being the commanding officer of the department’s detective bureau. South Pas, as it’s known, is a small Southern California suburb situated between Los Angeles and Pasadena, with a population of about 25,000 spread out over 3.5 square miles. And, as we cover in our conversation, the SPPD and Abdalla were faced with a unique opportunity to completely replace its aging fleet of police cars.
In this case, going electric wasn’t going to involve one or two support vehicles for traffic control or parking enforcement, as other departments around the country have been doing for years, but the chance to replace 10 hardworking emergency-response patrol vehicles and another 10 detective cars that would be used for daily investigative duties.
What are the challenges and opportunities when the “five-oh” goes EV? For the podcast, we prepped by relying heavily on human intelligence, quizzing two retired police officers who have served with the Los Angeles and Berkeley city police departments and the University of California PD. Special thanks to Thomas and Robert Syto for the assistance.
We also asked Jasper, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, whether EVs would make good police cars. Jasper replied:
“Electric vehicles have the potential to be an excellent option for police departments looking to upgrade their fleets. They are much more efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly compared to traditional gas-powered cars. Additionally, electric vehicles can provide quicker acceleration and better handling than gas-powered cars, which can help officers better respond to emergency situations. However, it is important for police departments to also consider the total cost of ownership over the lifetime of the vehicle, as well as potential issues with electric vehicles such as limited range and long charging times.”
No surprises there; Abdalla confirms in our conversation that total cost of ownership was a key driver in all of this and addressed one of our biggest questions: How would the department keep patrol vehicles, which have a hard duty cycle in which they are rarely not running, charged up and ready for pursuit? The other big questions: Which EVs to choose, and who could help convert them for service? That’s where Ben Schaffer stepped in.
Schaffer, as you’ll recall, is the founder and CEO of Tesla performance upfitter Unplugged Performance, the same company behind Tesla Corsa track days and Pikes Peak International Hill Climb blasts with our man Randy Pobst. As we find out, there’s a lot of overlap when it comes to building record-breaking electric race cars and converting Tesla Model 3s and Ys into police cars suitable for 24/7 patrol, detective work, and even serving as K9 units.
Watch this fascinating conversation right here or check out it on our YouTube channel. Commuting? Download it at Podcast One or wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you love it, please share it and don’t forget to give us a five-star review.
Read the full article here