The Centralia Police Department is going electric.
The local law enforcement agency plans to purchase a used Tesla as a new administrative vehicle.
Centralia Police Chief Andy Caldwell hopes lower maintenance costs for the vehicle will save the department money in the long run.
The Centralia City Council approved a request from Caldwell to purchase a used Tesla model Y vehicle during its Tuesday evening meeting. The police chief believes the used vehicle could save the city as much as $4,000 a year in maintenance costs.
“There’s a lot of law enforcement publications that are discussing the benefits of admin vehicles going to electric vehicles and the cost savings,” Caldwell said. “That cost savings largely comes from the fact that an EV versus a Ford Explorer, a Ford Explorer costs about, we’ll say, 11 to 15 cents per mile, where a Tesla costs about 4 cents per mile.”
According to city documents, the vehicle will cost the city $36,000 compared to at least $56,000 for a comparable gas-powered vehicle. The vehicle also comes with an expected cost of $17,500 to equip it for use as a police vehicle and an additional $5,450 cost to install a level 2 EV charger at the city’s Mellen Street facility.
Caldwell added that the vehicle will replace an existing administrative vehicle — a 2006 Chevy Impala with more than 100,000 miles.
Caldwell describes the purchase as a pilot program to see if electric vehicles could actually be more cost efficient for the Centralia Police Department. He believes that the city will be able to evaluate the cost impact after a year of use.
The chief also pointed out that his request to purchase the vehicle would not use city general fund money but instead draw from federal funds intended to aid state and local law enforcement.
“It’s already in our budgets. This isn’t something that hits the general fund,” Caldwell said. “It is a pilot program to see how it works, but it benefits us in both ways. We need to get rid of a vehicle that is very expensive right now, and we need to replace it.”
