I'm a tech enthusiast and Tesla Model 3 owner who recently attended this special EV Club of CT event. I'm reporting what I learned about the technology, with information I was unable to find anywhere else. If you have serious interest in this Model 3 for fleet use and have questions, please contact the Westport Police Department after reading why this wasn't easy at Westport Police Tesla – What’s Next. If my long-form technical article below is just too much information for your taste, just skip to the video or photo gallery below. I can't be 100% certain it's the first Model 3 wired like this in the world, but based on the information given, it sure seems likely. Westport's ability to procure more like it is uncertain at this time.
I first caught the news about the first Tesla police car in Connecticut back in December of 2019, but really I didn't realize the significance went far beyond the borders of our little state. This Model 3 Performance seems to be the very first Tesla in the world to be modified for police use with some level of cooperation from Tesla engineering. We'll get back to that in a bit more detail below, and in my detailed 4K video that features a thorough tour of this stealthy Model 3 Performance, followed by a presentation with a lively Q&A.
Free Supercharging:If you find this article of value and decide to order a Tesla, please consider using thists.la/paul68544referral link when placing your order so you and I both get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging. If you order Solar, it's a $250 award after system activation.
Disclosure:My family owns no stock in Tesla. Tesla doesn't advertise at TinkerTry, or anywhere else, and this is not a sponsored post. We financed the purchase of two Tesla Model 3s, replacing my 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid in December of 2018 and replacing my wife's 2005 Honda Civic EX in December of 2019. These big moves to an all electric household were an expression of our mutual desire to go green, avoid gasoline, be safe, have fun, and save money in the long run. Mostly for my job, I drive a lot, 25,000 miles in 2019 for example, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing what I've learned with you. I hope you can tell!
You may have spotted that 10 mpg figure in the title of this article and been a bit skeptical. Until you consider how much of a traffic enforcement police officer's vehicle is spent idling during the typical shift. Only occasionally are they accelerating rather quickly to inject themselves into existing traffic safely. Pretty nice that Tesla's all wheel drive with incredible effective traction control means the officer can simply floor the accelerator in nearly any weather conditions, even during turns, with little skill required. Such abilities will certainly come in handy for patrolling busy Interstate 95, Route 15, and Route 1, all of which cross through this lovely small town.
Now when you look at the average miles per gallon of 10 mpg for a given vehicle in this traffic enforcement roll, it starts to make sense. Or is that cents. Yes, money savings was a primary driver behind the purchase, along with a requirement to meet or exceeding the acceleration of the vehicle it replaced.
The keynote speaker was Foti Koskinas, Chief of Police of the Westport Police Department since 2016. It's a bold move to put one's reputation on the line to convince First Selectman (Mayor) Jim Marpe and ultimately the tax payers that this was a good decision. An all-electric vehicle like the Model 3 is very much in line with Westport's goal of Net Zero by 2050, and this little town sure seems to be on the right path by taking this big first step. Note Westport has the highest per capita EV ownership in the state of Connecticut. It also about an hour from New York City, see also CNN's Your next NYC taxi could soon be a Tesla (Model 3).
Got your attention? This one statistic really stuck out to me. This small town of Westport with just 26,000 citizens uses 55,000 gallons of fuel for its fleet of vehicles per year.
This police department keeps their vehicles to about 120,000 miles, and about 30,000 hours spent powered up but not moving. In a gas car, that's known as "idling." With this EV purchase, maybe they can go further, for longer.
It will be interesting to see how the other mechanicals hold up to their tougher-than-usual duties, such as the expected premature seat wear from officers' gun belt, which Chief of Police Foti mentioned he expects to happen around 100,000 miles. The ultimate vegan leather seat test.
Model 3 drive unit & body is designed like a commercial truck for a million mile life. Current battery modules should last 300k to 500k miles (1500 cycles). Replacing modules (not pack) will only cost $5k to $7k.
At least one story of a high mileage Model 3 seems to indicate this longevity could well be the case, but recently Elon added some clarifications about battery serviceability on his appearance on the 3rd row podcast.
Of the battery life, Chief of Police Foti mentions:
they are monitoring them, that's another thing that Tesla's working with us, and they can dial right in...standard operating procedure is to bring it in at 30%.
He also mentions that over these first 2 mid-winter weeks of operation, the range has been enough charge to easily handle two 8 hour shifts, and they haven't had to go over 200 miles on a charge yet. They're typically taking around 5.5 hours to recharge overnight.
Westport approached this project in conjunction with Tesla, the legitimate way, trying to avoid the need to add additional 12V batteries it a car that already has a giant 7.5 kW battery pack. I can see that trying to handle the limitations of the Model 3's small 12 volt battery tucked under the edge of the frunk (hood) wouldn't end well, It would have to take a lot of abuse from the constant power draw when parked, over-and-over per shift. Instead, you'll see in my NBC News screenshot what appears to be an inverter in the sub-trunk space, below. Naturally, to keep the siren, lights, police radio, and police tablet available full-time, you wouldn't really want to have to have the officer use Camping Mode as a work-around for the default electrical system's energy-saving time-out behavior on 12 volt. You need these electrical systems running full time.
When driving, the DC-DC converter helps power the 12v system, and fewer charge cycles occur. A car left sitting, will need more charge cycles, and will age the 12v battery faster.
In other words, idling a lot, with the vampire drain that goes with it, is tough on that little 12 volt battery. There are even some old rumors that Tesla may do away with the 12V battery entirely someday, one less point of failure. But such a complete electrical redo could be a long way away.
While we don't have the details, to draw power safely from the same 75 kWh battery pack that powers the dual motors, this car must somehow be fitted with a downconverter, to get from 350 volts or 48 volts down to 12 volts. That conversion hardware is likely some of what we're seeing in the sub-trunk area in the picture below, or that could just be more Motorola radio equipment. I hope to be able to have another chance to look under the hood and into the sub-trunk (where a gas tank would often normally be) during the upcoming New York International Auto show, since this Model 3 police car will be there for the press and public to see. That is, if I get a chance to attend.
Screenshot of NBC 4 video on Feb 21 2020, with the video seemingly removed as of Feb 22. My apologies this isn't of higher resolution.
Club leadership requested that I be very clear that it is by no means certain further purchases will be approved, and it's likely a lot of data and use cases will need to be proven out. Future vehicle discussions below are all just conjecture, please refrain from using sound bites or quoting any portion of this article or Chief of Police Foti out of context.
Naturally, the topic of the Model Y came up, Chief of Police Foti said:
So we'll certainly look at it [Model Y] because one of the concerns with this car [Model 3], if we're lucky to have a large fleet, is ground clearance during heavy snow...the way the bottom is it's like a sled really...if a higher platform is available, we'd certainly entertain it.
After the event, off camera, I briefly showed him this very recent article and photo:
"Tesla Cybertruck is turned into police vehicle by Ontario police" - Electrek tweet.
At one point in the video, somebody asks what he thinks of the Cybertruck, and Chief of Police Foti did seem open to the idea, and mentioned that they do currently have some pickup trucks. It's early days for Westport, only 2 weeks into operation.
I think it's likely Westport will need some more time with what they have before they'll be ready to take the next steps in deciding what's next, especially if it's not another Model 3.
Back at the infamous broken-glass Cybertruck launch event, Fleet Forward was there and Chris Brown, who I know personally, wrapped up his fun and insightful assessment of the event saying:
Some speculated on the show floor that the Cybertruck could be an off-road pursuit vehicle. If I’m to be arrested in any vehicle, I suppose it’d be that one.
Note, this newly upfitted car has only been put into service 2 weeks ago.
Photo thumbnail of Tesla Superbottle from TESLARATI, click to view detailed article.
The Model 3 has a simple and extremely efficient heating and cooling system for the occupants and the battery, all thanks to the marvel of engineering called the Superbottle. I know that's nerdy, but the article really is quite interesting.
Photo of a Model 3 rear seat by Paul Braren at TinkerTry, taken with a FLIR thermal imaging camera attachment.
The Model 3 also has seat heaters that can get occupants warm fast. There is no waiting for the engine to warm up for the ducted heat to warm up, it just starts blowing heat right away at whatever temperature you request, safely, even when garaged. No fumes.
Yes, the ultimate police car, or taxi for that matter. Don't forget the potential for big money savings. Electricity costs far less than gas to move an efficient car around, even when electricity costs are relatively high like anywhere here in New England.
Inquires have come in from all around the world, including Istanbul Turkey, Frankfurt Germany, Singapore Malaysia, and a city in New Zealand.
Chief of Police Foti is a sudden tech pioneer. He has inspired so many across the globe to more carefully consider their next fleet purchase. Bruce respectfully called him a rock star, pointing out his positive influence.
What will likely be watched very carefully is how things go in the long-term, including wear-and-tear, maintenance, efficiency, and safety.
Keep in mind that all Teslas now have a lot of safely-related accident-avoidance technology built-in, with an incredibly powerful HW3 computer onboard in recent models like this one. This dual-brain computer is watching the road at all times,enhancing driver safety even without Autopilot engaged. Yes, this includes an automatic emergency braking system where timing is everything.
Chief of Police Foti stated:
A police car that's doing the same sort of enforcement as we're doing with this car, we're lucky if we're getting 8 or 10 miles per gallon...If a car goes by you at 55, you've got to hit 75 to catch up to it...[often asked] why don't you get a Chevy Volt?...We need the performance...outperform what we currently have...[0-60] is 3.2. So what I tell people is just picture 55 going by you, for us there's a huge danger factor, the faster we need to go for the longer distance is the higher the risk, so the quicker we can accelerate in a shorter distance to pull behind the offender is a safety issue...if I don't have to do 85, now I have to do 65 or 70 to catch up to the car and I only have to do it for 2 tenths of a mile rather than 6 or 7 tenths of a mile, it's not hard to figure out how many people would have been in harm's way before we're ready to stop a car.
Even though his department has no plans to use the included Autopilot feature (or optional future Full Self Driving), they are interested in using those built-in Dashcam / Sentry Mode cameras. One thing that sprang to my mind for reviewing Dashcam footage was something like a hardened version of Roadie for Tesla that I'm currently testing, and it's a Connecticut business. But it seems they have something in the works already.
Chief of Police Foti's persistence in trying to reach Tesla that eventually paid off, with a little help from somebody with an @harvard.edu email address helping move things a long a bit. Rather than reporting more about what was said, I think you'll enjoy trying to read hearing the rest yourself. This footage below is largely uncut and unedited, where I captured about 95% of the police portion of the EV Club of Connecticut event's agenda. While I sure was wishing I had a wireless lapel mic and wind blockers for this bitter cold and very windy night, I think most of the audio is good enough, and the crowd's casual conversations with a very down-to-earth Pepsi-drinking Foti worked out pretty well.
I think it's likely this pilot project will work out well in the end, but only time can tell for sure. They've got help with the math, given free labor for the electrical systems, and apparently having technology partners very interested in keeping things running smoothly for this closely-watched project. What will be more telling will be how other police departments fare with the fitting of the kit required for their municipality, perhaps at a considerable cost. Let's hope that blazing trails here can help get standards going for how things all get wired up here, a-pillar-concealed-antennas included.
I also think that future use of the Model Y might be considerably different for the upfitters to tackle since the electrical system will be quite a bit different, and simpler. But the better abilities in snow and the greater rear seat room to put one of those passenger cages in likely will make it well worth it to take that on. Same goes for the Cybertruck, especially in more rugged terrain, or where bullet proofing is of even more importance.
I personally found it electrifying to meet Foti and his department's first-of-its-kind Model 3 and I'm not alone, see also EV Club of CT's new article:
The Model 3 has been deployed to traffic, where its ability to accelerate quickly from a standing start is valuable from the perspective of officer and public safety, described in more detail in an earlier post here. Traffic is a big issue locally. There is plenty of it. The department receives numerous complaints from residents. Chief Foti described Westport as a “cut-through” town, given that both I-95 and the Merritt Parkway cross the town, and when there is a backup (which happens all the time), traffic spills onto local roads. There is also plenty of speeding and distracted driving.
This particular patrol car is not a “black and white.” It is dark gray with police decals, a design that doesn’t stick out “until you want it to.”
At several points in the video, I get close up views of the high-intensity red white and blue LEDs, and a lot of interesting technical conversation.
Here's a few quotes from the video.
There is a marketing studio here in Westport it's called Concept Studios...they're working with Tesla to do a short...video for Tesla for the whole build out from tearing the car apart.
I gotta say, Tesla, when we said we were interested in the car, from day of doing the order and day delivered was less than 5 days...and it was the model that we wanted the color we wanted, maybe we got lucky, but I'm told no they wanted to get you guys a car.
we're using their headlights and tailights
...they were very good [Tesla]. Initially, it wasn't so good in the beginning, we thought we'll have to do what every other police department did and muddle through and see what we can do...[Tesla said] we'll get you where you need to go, but we won't walk you through how to get there...
TinkerTry YouTube Channel - Feb 20 2020 - Detailed tour of Westport CT Police Model 3, the first to use the big battery pack for accessories
Below, I've chosen a few of the most relevant videos.
Added Sep 13 2020 - Zac and Jesse describe their new video:
On today's episode of "In Depth" Zac & Jesse go for a ride along with the Westport, CT Tesla Model 3 Police Car! #Tesla #Model3 #PoliceCar
Now You Know - Sep 04 2020 - Tesla Police Car Ride Along! | In Depth
Added May 29 2020 - This first clip is from the high school student doing a senior project on Tesla. Owen was the videographer you'll see many times in my clip, thankfully I didn't ruin his footage. What a great video, and what an inspiration, check it out!
Owen Sparks - May 20 2020 - The Breaking Point | Senior Project Documentary
Engineering deep dives next, selected from the Ingineerix Tesla Model 3 playlist.
Ingineerix - Jul 26 2018 - Tesla Model 3 Power Conversion System
Video ends with easy to service.
Ingineerix - Jul 22 2018 - First Look: Tesla Model 3 Drive Unit
Ingineerix - Aug 02 2018 - Tesla Model 3 - How to safely get 12v for accessories
Ingineerix - Aug 02 2018 - Tesla Model 3 - UPDATE: How to safely get 12v for accessories
You can see the Superbottle in this video.
Ingineerix - Feb 16 2018 - Tesla Model 3 Stripped - Part 1 - Frunk Exploration
Ingineerix - Feb 16 2018 - Tesla Model 3 - Exploded?!?
Fleet Auto Supply of West Haven CT donated 200 hours labor for the electrical install, subsequent installs are likely to be much faster now that everything has been figured out
Whelen Engineering of Chester CT donated the police light and siren controls
Tesla Model 3 Performance, Stealth (18" tires, Aero wheel covers)
18" wheels give them better pothole and curb handling.
If catching speeding vehicles, the risk with rapid acceleration to catch up lessens the risk to everybody else who happens to be nearby. See Electric vs Gas Cop Cars video below!
People getting a ticket say "that was the coolest car".
100 Amp breaker with 2 gauge wire, and setting inside Tesla Wall Connector is set to max (48 amps).
Medical kit kept in the front trunk (frunk), on a heart attack call, an officer already remotely opened the frunk from the app on his phone, which facilitated assistance from others in a heart attack situation.
All antennas are hidden inside the a pillars.
Fire chief in New Hampshire will be getting Model 3 soon.
I regret not asking to have a look at the odometer's read-out of watt hours per mile, to get a sense of their overall efficiency so far.
I also regret not asking to have a look under the hood (frunk) or under the trunk (sub-trunk).
Out of Spec Motoring - Apr 07 2020 - Should Police use EVs? Tesla Model 3 vs Crown Vic Police Interceptor
Kyle takes his Model 3 Performance and ex legitimate cop car (yes Kyle did buy it for this test and some more to come) to the Out of Spec track for a series of challenges. We attempt to see if electric cars are better suited for police work than ICE vehicles.
Why don't they just offer a police package on their vehicles for Tesla? Making a fleet aka non-luxury version of their vehicles and make them less expensive and more enticing for local government.
Tim responded:
I've been saying this for a long time, especially when Cybertruck came out, I think it makes perfect sense...those interceptor packages...those are expensive, I actually think Tesla could undercut them and totally reduce their monthly coss...absolutely that should be looked into.
Joe responded:
Model Y and a Cybertruck might be a good fit.
Listening to this podcast episode, I was like ooo ooo, have you seen my article about Westport Connecticut's Model 3, and how it uses the main battery pack for accessories? How about I tweet that to @LudicrousFuture. Done!
If you love EVs and Space, you'll love hearing Joe Scott, Tim Dodd and Ben Sullins tell you all about Our Ludicrous Future, subscribe here.
Title changed from awkward: Westport Connecticut Police first to use Model 3's large battery for siren, radio, and lights with Tesla cooperation, replacing 10 mpg gas cruiser with stealthy, efficient EV
to: Westport Connecticut Police first to use Tesla battery pack for new Model 3 Police Cruiser's accessories and lights, replacing 10 mpg cruiser with fast, safe, and efficient EV
The first year has brought more than $6,750 in savings, almost matching the initial price difference compared to a Dodge Charger.
Bargersville Police Department in Indiana introduced its Tesla Model 3 police car in August 2019 (as the first Model 3 police unit in the U.S.) and according to the input from Police Chief Todd Bertram, EV savings are quite substantial. ...
...
The Model 3 uses a 45 Ah, AGM Battery. One supplier is AtlasBX with the model 85B24LS. ...
The Model 3 integrates the charger and the DC-DC converter into a single package, the PCS (Power Conversion System). ... Battery Longevity
In new Tesla cars, the 12V battery lasts about 3-4 years for most owners, although paradoxically, if you put a few miles on the car, it may last as little as 1-2 years. The difference is how many discharge/charge cycles the battery goes through and how deeply the battery is discharged. When driving, the DC-DC converter helps power the 12v system, and fewer charge cycles occur. A car left sitting, will need more charge cycles, and will age the 12v battery faster. ...
Integrate Tesla headlights and taillights so they can be used as part of police emergency lighting. Tesla recoded for this.
Access the Sentry cameras for use as dashcam and license plate readers. Tesla worked with the WPD vendors and this is happening. The police can now avoid purchasing new cameras, which they normally have to do. And the Tesla cameras are superior. ...
Editors note: I found this article below after publishing this article.
...
Impressively, the addition of these mods are expected to not drastically affect the vehicle’s battery or its range, according to the department. Westport PD ran a series of tests to see if the additional electrical apparatuses would bring down the 322 miles of range. The results indicated that the decrease in range was negligible. ...
[Mad Money's Cramer -] “This is a unique technology company on wheels, with incredible growth. Their product uses less energy and produces far fewer carbon emissions in a world where consumers actually care about that stuff,” he said. ...
WESTPORT — Bruce Becker woke up at 4 a.m. on a day in late March 2016 and drove from Westport to the Tesla store in Mount Kisco, N.Y., to put his name on the list for a Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle. He was third in line.
After a nearly two-year wait, he finally picked up his car Monday.
“I’m an environmentalist and an architect and developer and I’ve spent the last 10 years of my career trying to create buildings that don’t rely on fossil fuels,” said Becker, who grew up in New Canaan. “What I came to realize is cars actually have a bigger impact on the environment than buildings. With all the energy I’m spending trying to make green buildings, it was crazy for me to ignore my own personal driving habits.”
WNBC-TV, New York, sent a news crew at the crack of dawn on Feb 5 to video the Police Model 3 Vehicle and speak to Westport First Selectman Jim Marpe.
The station’s new personnel arrived before sunrise, making the lights on the Model 3 seem that much more dramatic. They spoke with the police and First Selectman Jim Marpe about the town’s thinking behind the pioneering decision to incorporate a Model 3 into the police patrol car fleet. This was organized with the help of Sustainable Westport. ...
This is the link to the WNBC website for the report.
...
Prospective leasing customers are permitted to take a test drive.
It is technically called a demonstration drive, and the wording in the liability release is a little different reflecting the fact that it is in the service of a prospective lease, but it’s a test drive. The first step to direct sales?
Tesla is still not permitted to sell directly to consumers, unlike in our neighboring states of New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and, for that matter, the majority of the country. What prevents Tesla from doing so are the so-named dealer franchise laws that were written decades ago to protect the dealerships from their own affiliated manufacturers. ...
The all-electric vehicle cost the town considerably more than a regular patrol car, but officials hope to save in fuel & maintenance costs. ...
Compared to a $37,000 typical Ford Explorer police vehicle, the all-electric 2020 Tesla is significantly more expensive in upfront costs, but Westport Police Chief Foti Koskinas "expects to more than make up for that in fuel and maintenance savings over the life of the vehicle." ...
Chief of Police Foti Koskinas said he was impressed by the superior performance, 5-star crash ratings and collision avoidance technology that's available in the Tesla Model 3. Officers do not plan to use the autopilot feature.
The department said they spent more on the initial purchase for the Tesla Model 3 compared to buying another Ford Explorer, but said they plan to save money on things including maintenance and gasoline in the long run.
The Westport Police Department plans to host an open house in the spring so residents can come see the new Tesla in person and learn about how it's helping the department. ...
The night of broken glass: In the event’s soon-to-be legendary “uh-oh moment,” Musk asked Tesla’s chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, to test the window strength by throwing a steel ball at it. It broke, twice.
Did you know that the town of Westport, CT is well underway in achieving its goal of becoming a net zero community by 2040?
This is being accomplished by locals (individuals and businesses) sustainably managing energy, water and waste resolutions. Using environmentally responsible solutions, like the TecKnow Smart Living Ecosystem, put home and business owners ‘in charge’ of their environmental footprint. Utilizing two American infrastructure companies, Tesla Energy and Apple Computers, to create seamless automations in conserving energy.
These are a mix of regular flash and no-flash photography, and some screenshots from the 4K video.
View of the DUAL MOTOR logo with the subtle Performance underline. Likely a stealth Performance, with normal brake calipers and 18" wheels. Pretty apparent the retro-reflective bumper treatment and POLICE word are effective when I used my flash.Night mode, no flash.Aero wheel covers and aftermarket 18" Nokian Tyres.When the car is being used by an officer, firearms are secured in the trunk.Handheld control to turn lights and siren on, with radio secured to the center console with magnets, seen at lower left.High intensity LED affixed firmly to the underside of right side-view mirror.Grille under front bumper has added LEDs, this is the right one.Control for siren, and the added red and blue lights.Center console left open, but it appears the radio at left and the light controls at right could be stowed inside or outside of the console, with magnetic attachments for either.Motorola
As far as we know, this is a stock Model 3 Performance, with stealth 18" wheels. It might be model year 2020, with delivery taken in December of 2019. Here's the listed factory specifications for that vehicle.
Acceleration T'20P: 0-60 mph 3.2 seconds, Quarter Mile 11.5 sec at 116.5 mph.Sourcefor 0-60 andsourcefor quarter mile.
Non-OE (aftermarket) tires and additional weight from equipment can affect these numbers, of course. State of charge and extreme cold can slightly reduce these numbers too..
Tires T'20P: 18 in. rims, P235/45R18 - WR G4.Source.
Braking T'20P: 60-0 mph in TBD ft.
Weight T'20P: 4,072 lbs.Source.. As-delivered, before the installation of aftermarket police accessories.
Free Supercharging:If you find this article of value and decide to order a Tesla, please consider using thists.la/paul68544referral link when placing your order so you and I both get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging. If you order Solar, it's a $250 award after system activation.
Disclosure:My family owns no stock in Tesla. Tesla doesn't advertise at TinkerTry, or anywhere else, and this is not a sponsored post. We financed the purchase of two Tesla Model 3s, replacing my 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid in December of 2018 and replacing my wife's 2005 Honda Civic EX in December of 2019. These big moves to an all electric household were an expression of our mutual desire to go green, avoid gasoline, be safe, have fun, and save money in the long run. Mostly for my job, I drive a lot, 25,000 miles in 2019 for example, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing what I've learned with you. I hope you can tell!
After 6 successful years testing then shipping well over 1,000 Xeon D Bundles, Wiredzone had to stop selling them in mid-2021 due to cost, supply, and logistics challenges. So far, Xeon D-1700/2700 (Ice Lake D) was a minor refresh for 2023, with Xeon D-1800/2800 (Granite Rapids D) refresh looking a little better for 2024. More cores, but still just PCIe Gen4 and DDR4. Looking ahead, I'm glad it's Pat Gelsinger at Intel's helm. I'm also grateful to have had the honor of working at VMware when Pat was the CIO there. I'll leave it at that, given the whole Broadcom thing.
