Image: CTV News Vancouver Island
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has selected Tesla’s Model Y for its first all-electric police cruiser, which will soon hit the roads of Langford, British Columbia — reports CTV News (via Tesla North).
West Shore RCMP unveiled the Model Y patrol cruiser, which will be used on southern Vancouver Island, on Tuesday.
“This is the first ever fully electric RCMP police vehicle and we’re proud to be piloting it here in the West Shore detachment,” said Todd Preston, Chief Superintendent of the West Shore. “Our geography and mild winter weather make this an ideal test environment.”
Compared to a traditional gas-powered cruiser, going all-electric with the Model Y will not only help the West Shore RCMP reduce emissions but also net the department some savings in fuel and maintenance costs. On average, a gas-powered patrol car cost the RCMP $11,000 to fuel and maintain in 2020, and these numbers have only gone up since due to inflation.
The West Shore RCMP isn’t stopping at just a Tesla Model Y, either. Later this year, the department will take delivery of two more electric vehicles (EVs): a Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck and a Mustang Mach-E SUV.
Notably, the West Shore RCMP is located just minutes away from where Tesla is building its first service centre and showroom on Vancouver Island in Langford, a suburb that’s about 25 minutes west of Victoria. According to a recent study on Tesla’s economic impact in Canada, the EV maker contributed a whopping $762 million to the country’s GDP in 2021.
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A good start and Vancouver Island has the perfect climate for the Tesla. I’m not so sure that in its present form that assigning this car to Northern Saskatchewan would work quite as well. Battery technology continues to advance so we’ll see.