The South Pasadena (California) Police Department has become the nation’s first law enforcement agency to completely replace its gasoline-powered vehicles with nonpolluting electric 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 city’s zero-emission police fleet of 20 new Teslas will rely on a bank of new EV chargers installed at South Pasadena City Hall. Additionally, upon completion of the final electrification project component, Pasadena’s City Hall, Police Station and Fire Station buildings will be backed up by a solar-powered system with battery storage adding critical power resilience in case of an outage.
“This transition reflects the city’s vision of a sustainable future based on both sound fiscal management and environmental stewardship,” says South Pasadena Mayor Evelyn Zneimer. “The City Council is fully behind this transition. We will have a 21st-century police force that is safe, clean and saves taxpayer dollars. We’re very excited to be working with our regional and corporate partners to make this happen.”
According to city staff reports, the transition is expected to save about $4,000 a year per vehicle on energy costs, plus provide more savings on maintenance, such as brakes, oil changes and air filters. Overall, according to South Pasadena Police Chief Brian Solinsky, the operational cost of EVs will be at least half the per-mile cost of gasoline-powered vehicles.
To make the switch, 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 upfitted for patrol and administrative police use through Unplugged Performance’s UP.FIT division.
All the vehicles have 5-star safety ratings — better than any gas vehicle available for policing — which means the city’s officers will be as safe as possible in the field, according to Solinsky.
A key component of the project was the construction of 34 chargers 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 needed to energize the vehicles and installed the underground wiring needed to install the chargers.
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.
