South Pasadena’s police automobile fleet is predicted to go absolutely electrical by the beginning of subsequent 12 months.
The town is leasing 20 Teslas by Enterprise for a minimum of 5 years for police patrol duties, administration and detective work. Some autos are already in use, Deputy Metropolis Supervisor Domenica Megerdichian stated, whereas others used for patrol should nonetheless be correctly outfitted.
Practically $2 million in metropolis funds was allotted to the leasing settlement, which incorporates 10 Tesla Mannequin Y autos and 10 Tesla Mannequin 3 autos, in line with Metropolis Council agenda reviews. The town additionally obtained $500,000 in funding from a committee that works to scale back car air pollution within the South Coast area.
Greater than 30 charging ports, together with some for public use, might be put in at South Pasadena Metropolis Corridor parking heaps in partnership with Southern California Edison.
“We now have been investigating this transition for 5 to 6 years and decided that these electrical autos would be the finest operationally for us,” South Pasadena Police Chief Brian Solinsky stated in an announcement. “They’re the most secure and quickest autos and can save town cash in decrease upkeep and fueling prices.”
Councilmember Michael Cacciotti, who championed the transition to electrical autos, stated that South Pasadena had “a protracted historical past of supporting clear air autos and transition to scrub air gear,” citing town’s conversion to electrical garden gear in 2016 for metropolis grounds and parks upkeep.
Cacciotti, who purchased the first-generation Prius about 20 years in the past, stated that South Pasadena is the primary metropolis within the nation to completely convert a police automobile fleet to electrical autos.
“We’re setting the gold customary for the USA, and possibly the world,” he stated.
Megerdichian stated that South Pasadena, which covers 3.4 sq. miles and homes one of many Gold Line Metro stops, is “environmentally aware” and has lengthy taken steps to be extra bike- and pedestrian-friendly. The town expects to save lots of greater than $300,000 per car over the subsequent 10 years in gasoline and upkeep prices.
The Metropolis Council accepted the transfer in September, and expects the electrical car transition to be absolutely in place by subsequent February.
Megerdichian says a lot of the metropolis’s police autos are prepared to get replaced and might be turned in or will go to public sale.
