East Washington Police receive electric vehicle
The East Washington Police Department has received its electric vehicle.
The Tesla Model 3 was delivered a little more than a week ago.
“It’s working out well,” said East Washington Police Department Chief David Bradley. “It’s definitely a police car. It’s not going to be used any differently than any other marked patrol vehicle.”
East Washington Mayor Demond Nixon said the officers in the department are “happy for the most part.”
“Even the ones that aren’t happy,” he added, “are happy they have a backup car.”
East Washington becomes the first area police department and one of the first in the state to have an electric police vehicle.
“Our big plan was to cut down on our maintenance budget, to cut down on our fuel costs,” Nixon said. “The police department was in need of a second police vehicle.”
The department of 14 part-time officers, plus the chief, had just one police vehicle. Two inoperable vehicles had to be sold in May, leaving the department with just one Ford sedan.
“The repairs on just one of those vehicles was enough to blow the (maintenance) budget for one year,” Nixon said. “We did not want to find ourselves in that position. We have the best of both worlds with the electric police vehicle and the gas-powered vehicle. Our hopes are to cut maintenance costs down by 50%, if not more.”
Bradley sees some important advantages as far as controlling costs are concerned.
“To me, the biggest advantage is you don’t have to fuel it up all the time,” he said. “Right now, we get free charging. It came with the purchase of the vehicle. What people have told us is that it’s only $11 to fill up for a 250-mile range, which is pennies when compared to gas.”
There are locations where the car can be charged. Nixon said there are about 10-12 charging stations at the Giant Eagle in South Strabane. There also are six charging stations at Washington & Jefferson College and others at Tanger Outlets in South Strabane.
Borough Council voted 5-2 in June to purchase the Tesla Model 3 at a cost of $56,485. The other option was a Ford Interceptor Explorer SUV for about $42,000.
Proponents of the purchase cited savings in costs in maintenance and gas.
Voting against the motion were councilmen Dan Bird and Doug Corwin. That duo made a motion in August to rescind the motion to purchase the car, but were voted down by the same 5-2 vote.
At the time, Bird said he was concerned about the safety features of a Tesla compared to a regular Ford SUV. He also expressed concern the nearest certified Tesla dealer is located in Cranberry, meaning the borough would have to take the vehicle out of Washington County if repairs were needed.
Councilman Kent James said at the time the car wouldn’t require oil changes. Inspections and tire alignments could be done locally and the vehicle wouldn’t necessarily have to be taken to Cranberry for repairs since a team could come to the borough to handle repairs.
The Tesla was not designed to be used as a police vehicle, but it was outfitted with the necessary equipment by Passive Security Solutions in Indianapolis.
“It’s impressive,” Nixon said. ” It looks really good. They did a great job outfitting it. It’s very modern. It’s very sleek. It doesn’t have the huge dome light at the top. It’s all internal and hidden. It’s very well done.”
Nixon also said Passive Security Solutions kept the township informed each step of the way as the Tesla was being prepared.
“They were so nice. Instead of us having to pay to have the vehicle brought here, they drove it here themselves,” Bradley said, adding a representative from the company explained the many characteristics of the car while in East Washington.
Nixon said that while East Washington is one of the first to purchase such a vehicle. Other municipalities may be considering it.
“A few municipalities have reached out to the chief,” Nixon said. “They want to see it as they consider similar decisions.”