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A Texas police department wondered out loud—in a post on X (formerly Twitter)—if it should swap out its old vehicles for Tesla’s Cybertruck this year.
“[Will] the #Cybertruck make a good police vehicle? It’s still hard to find new vehicles to replenish our older police units,” the Rosenburg Police asked yesterday (Jan. 2), tagging Elon Musk—the world’s richest man and the chief of Tesla, X, and Starlink, and more.
Within a couple hours, Musk replied with an emoji: 💯. In plain English, that more or less translates to “absolutely.”
Teased more than four years ago, Cybertruck deliveries only began landing just about a month ago. According to the company, full-scale production is due to kickstart in early 2024. And if Rosenburg, or any other police department, makes Cybertrucks a part of their fleet, it won’t be the first Tesla squad car.
Several police units have incorporated Tesla’s electric cars in their fleets already. Most of them use the Model Y. In May 2023, one California police department—South Pasadena—switched its entire fleet to Tesla’s Model Y cars, and shared plans of adding Model 3s to the mix as well.
Why the police is interested in Tesla’s Cybertruck
Car leasing comparison site Lease Fetcher has imagined the Cybertruck as roadside assistance vans, ambulances, Domino’s Pizza delivery trucks, yellow taxis, and more—including New York Police Department (NYPD) patrol vehicles.
But the police car idea is more than a gimmick.
During a keynote address at Oracle’s CloudWorld 2023 conference, founder Larry Ellison—also a Tesla board member until mid-2022—referred to a picture of a Tesla Cybertruck as the “next-generation police vehicle” that Oracle would load software onto. Ellison said the vehicle is an ideal pick because it’s safe, fast, and loaded with a bulletproof stainless steel exoskeleton.
Jeremy Noel Johnson, a Tesla investor, concurred that the Cybertruck will be the “ultimate police car” in a December post on auto blog TorqueNews. Besides its advantageous features for policing, like tech that enables tight turns and impressive towing, there’s also a slew of armor and accessories—“invincible” rear and front bumpers and side panels for protection—as well as range extenders available for purchase, he added.
One big number: Police departments say they save money with Tesla squad cars
$80,000: How much a Tesla Model Y will save the Somerset, Wisconsin police department over the 10 year duty cycle of the vehicle, according to a January 2023 Facebook post from chief Joel J. Trepczyk. “The Model Y is a 100% battery electric vehicle which is gaining more popularity with law enforcement agencies throughout the nation, who are realizing the cost savings of electric vehicle versus a traditional fleet,” he wrote, referring to advantages like a lack of oil changes, regenerative braking, and more.
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