South Pasadena Police Department Replaces Entire Fleet with Tesla EVs and Installs Solar + Battery Storage
July 31, 2024
The South Pasadena Police Department has completely replaced its gasoline-powered vehicles with 20 new Tesla electric vehicles (EVs).
The city's zero-emission police fleet will be dependent on 34 electric vehicle chargers installed at South Pasadena City Hall. Under its Charge Ready program, Southern California Edison upgraded its local distribution system to supply the higher level of power required to energize the vehicles and installed the underground wiring necessary to install the chargers.
Additionally, once the final electrification project component at City Hall is completed, the Police Station and Fire Station buildings will be supported by a solar-powered system with battery storage, adding critical power resilience in the event of an outage.
Clean Power Alliance's (CPA) Power Ready Program will help install a renewable solar and battery energy storage system at no cost to the City. Stored energy will ensure the continuity of operations for essential services during power outages.
CPA will reserve a portion of battery capacity in case of an outage and the batteries will be used daily for grid and energy optimization, participating in demand response events and increasing overall system reliability.
"The Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC) has partnered with the City of South Pasadena on the first-of-its-kind effort to transition an entire fleet of Police cars to zero-emission electric vehicles," said Larry McCallon, Chair of the MSRC and Mayor Pro Tem of the City of Highland. "The MSRC provided nearly $500,000 in Clean Transportation Funding to this clean air project, which furthers the MSRC's mission to improve air quality and reduce harmful emissions from motor vehicles in the South Coast Air District."
According to City staff reports, the transition is expected to save about $4,000 a year per vehicle on energy costs and provide additional savings on maintenance. As per South Pasadena Police Chief Brian Solinsky, the operational cost of electric vehicles will be at least half the per-mile cost of gasoline-powered vehicles.
Enterprise Fleet Management assisted the city in acquiring 10 Tesla Model Ys as patrol vehicles and 10 Tesla Model 3s for detective and administrative duties. The cars were up-fitted for patrol and administrative police use through Unplugged Performance's UP.FIT division.
The electric police fleet will reduce both toxic smog-forming emissions of nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and carbon monoxide, as well as emissions of carbon dioxide. The gasoline engines will continue to run to power the cars' emergency lights, radios, and other crucial equipment used in police cars.
More than half the cost of the electrification project is being met by the City's project partners, including:
- Nearly $500,000 in Clean Transportation Funding from the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC)
- Approximately $530,000 in work conducted by Southern California Edison under its Charge Ready program
- No-cost solar and battery storage system from the Clean Power Alliance's Power Ready Program, a Local Programs benefit to CPA's member agencies
The city's net expense is $1.85 million, which covers the cost of the EV chargers and lease payments to Enterprise Fleet Management.
The city has partnered with Standard Fleet to monitor costs and savings, ensure long-term fleet health, and manage vehicles. Standard Fleet's advanced software with UP.FIT offers complete control over the charging, maintenance, and dispatching of the customized Tesla vehicles used by the police force.
