The South Pasadena Police Department has become the first law enforcement agency in the U.S. to completely replace its gasoline-powered vehicles with nonpolluting electric vehicles.
The city’s zero-emission police fleet of 20 new Teslas will rely on a bank of new electric vehicle chargers installed at South Pasadena City Hall. Additionally, upon completion of the final electrification project component, City Hall, the Police Station and the Fire Station buildings will be backed up by a solar powered system with battery storage adding critical power resilience in the event of an outage.
“This transition reflects the city’s vision of a sustainable future based on both sound fiscal management and environmental stewardship,” said 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.”
Regional air quality officials applauded the switch.
“Finishing the job of cleaning up the region’s unhealthy smog and protecting our atmosphere will require wholesale adoption of vehicles that produce no emissions while driving,” said South Pasadena Councilmember and South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Vice Chair Michael Cacciotti. Cacciotti has been the key champion of the effort. “We have been working on this for over a decade. We finally got it right and the future for municipalities across the country is clear. Partnering is the way to get big ideas done. Our city is helping to make that a reality today.”
“The Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC) is proud to have 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.”
A law enforcement paradigm shift
The move points to a new paradigm for police organisations, which traditionally have been reluctant to move from gasoline to electric vehicles due to concerns about range, potential inability to charge when the grid goes down, and worries that the technology is new and unproven. Now, that’s changed.
“Switching to these vehicles offers the Police Department the opportunity to acquire a cutting-edge vehicle fleet,” said South Pasadena Police Chief Brian Solinsky. “This initiative not only ensures the safest vehicles for officers and staff but also leads to substantial reductions in both fuel and maintenance costs.
“Simultaneously, this transition enhances service levels for the residents of South Pasadena by minimising maintenance downtime commonly seen with traditional gas combustion engines.”
According to City staff reports, the transition is expected to save about $4,000 a year per vehicle on energy costs, plus provide additional savings on maintenance, such as brakes, oil changes, air filters, and more. Overall, according to Solinsky, the operational cost of electric vehicles will be at least half the per-mile cost of gasoline powered vehicles.
Working with partners to identify the right cars for the right price was critical to this effort, “An organisation’s fleet can be a clear indication of its values and priorities, and South Pasadena’s strategy emphasises its dedication to sustainability and innovation,” said Enterprise Fleet Management Vice President, Southern California, John Mills. “We are proud to help South Pasadena adopt an all-electric police fleet that better reflects its objectives and saves costs along the way. This program sets a high standard for other municipalities across the country.”
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 up-fitted 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.
“We’ve had the pleasure of developing best in class next-generation police vehicles alongside the great team at South Pasadena Police Department,” said Unplugged Performance CEO, Ben Shaffer. “As a result, 20 turn-key UP.FIT Tesla Model Y Pursuit and UP.FIT Tesla Model 3 Administrative vehicles have been produced to replace the full fleet of aging ICE vehicles.”
In addition to the advanced technology and performance, the visual presentation of the new fleet has also been enhanced. Each vehicle’s sleek and modern graphics were designed by Anyone™ Collective, ensuring that the fleet’s visual impact matches its cutting-edge capabilities.
Charging infrastructure key
City officials noted that any successful shift to electric transportation requires that the charging infrastructure go hand-in-hand with vehicle acquisition.
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 energise the vehicles and installed the underground wiring needed to install the chargers.
“Southern California Edison is committed to enabling California’s efforts to achieve a clean energy future and improve air quality in the communities we serve,” said Jill C. Anderson, executive vice president and COO for SCE. “We are excited to help the city of South Pasadena expand and prepare the local grid to charge its new police fleet through our Charge Ready program. This program helps by providing financial incentives, infrastructure and technical support to facilitate the installation of EV charging stations. We want to thank all those involved in this project who are helping to lead the way to a clean energy future.”
Health and environmental benefits
One of the city’s key motivations in moving to EVs, according to Cacciotti, was protecting public health and improving the environment.
South Pasadena’s electric police fleet will cut both toxic smog-forming emissions of nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and carbon monoxide, plus emissions of carbon dioxide, the key driver of global heating.
“This is important, particularly in the Los Angeles area which still has the most unhealthful air in the nation,” said Cacciotti. “We hope other police departments in the region and state will make the switch, too.”
Replacing gasoline-powered police and other public safety vehicles with EVs, he added, is critical since they are particularly high emitters. Police vehicles typically idle more than other vehicles when officers make traffic stops or respond to emergency calls, which greatly adds to emissions.
The gasoline engines must continue to run—which creates pollution—just to power the cars’ emergency lights, radios, and other crucial equipment used in police cars. In contrast, EVs are emissions-free while driving.
Resilient public safety
Clean Power Alliance’s Power Ready Program provides another important electrification component to South Pasadena’s City Hall project through the installation of a renewable solar and battery energy storage system, at no cost to the City. Stored energy will provide for the continuity of operations for essential services during power outages. In addition to installing a solar system canopy over the adjacent parking lot, 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.
Costs to be carefully measured
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; and
- 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.
To monitor costs and savings, ensure long-term fleet health, and manage vehicles day-to-day, the city has partnered with Standard Fleet. Collaborating with UP.FIT, Standard Fleet’s advanced software offers complete control over charging, maintenance, and dispatching of the customized Tesla vehicles used by the police force. Chief Solinsky highlighted the system’s crucial role in effectively managing their electric police fleet.
