The Westport Police Department announced their purchase of the Tesla Model 3 as the newest addition to their fleet. The department made the announcement on Dec.10; however, the Tesla won’t be in action until January 2020.

The purchase of an electric car is a great addition to the Westport police force, and will be beneficial to the environment as well as tax payer money. However, there are cheaper electric cars that the police department could have purchased. 

According to the Facebook statement released by the Westport Police Department, the Tesla costs $52,290, which is more than the $37,000 that the police department typically spends on their cars. However, the Tesla will cost less in maintenance than the current cars.

Teslas are known for their impressive features, like self driving; however, the police department doesn’t plan on taking advantage of this feature–meaning they could have bought the 2019 Nissan Leaf, which cost $29,990 and is 100% electric. 

The Facebook statement also states that current squad cars require around $11,000 in maintenance in the first three years. In contrast, electric cars don’t require annual maintenance. 

In addition, the price for charging electric cars is much less expensive than putting gas in other cars. According to the police statement, the electricity costs $0.040 per mile, while gas for the department’s current Ford Explorer is $0.127 per mile. This will save $13,770 in the first 3 years of owning the Tesla.

Although the Tesla is more expensive when initially purchased, money will be saved with the lack of costs for maintenance and gas. In addition, having an electric police car will be beneficial to the environment. According to the Facebook post, one of the reasons Police Chief Foti Koskinas chose the Model 3 was because of the environmental benefits. 

In the past, the town has made efforts in order to become more environmentally friendly. Adding a Tesla to the police fleet is just another effort to aid this fight.