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Battery-powered Tesla cop car loses its charge during high-speed chase

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Battery-powered Teslas might be good for the environment but they might not be the best choice for a police cruiser.

The Fremont (Calif.) Police Department found that out the hard way last week, when a dying Tesla Model S allowed an on-the-run perp to escape during a high-speed highway pursuit.

“I am down to six miles of battery on the Tesla so I may lose it here in a sec,” Officer Jesse Hartman said during the chase, which hit speeds of 120 miles per hour, according to the Mercury News . “If someone else is able, can they manoeuver into the number one spot?”

Soon after Hartman’s radio call went out, Fremont cops called off the chase after about eight minutes. But Hartman wasn’t out of the woods yet. He still needed to charge his cruiser, which is being used as a pilot project to determine their suitability as police vehicles, so he wouldn’t be stranded at the roadside.

“I’ve got to try to find a charging station for the Tesla so I can make it back to the city,” Hartman said over the radio. He found a charger in San Jose and later made his way back to Fremont, a police spokeswoman told the Mercury News.

Geneva Bosques, a Fremont police department spokeswoman, said an officer from the previous shift neglected to recharge the Tesla, leaving it with a lower battery level than normal.

“Hartman was monitoring the charge and responsibly notifying everyone of its status,” Bosques said in a text to the Mercury News.

The car being chased by Hartman was later found by California Highway Patrol officers crashed into bushes a short distance from where the pursuit ended. The driver was not found at the crash scene.

FPD bought the used car from Tesla, which has its main manufacturing plant in Fremont, for US$61,000 in 2018. In July, Fremont Police Capt. Sean Washington said things were going well with the Tesla pilot project.

“So far so good,” Washington said. “We are easily able to make it through an 11-hour shift with battery power to spare.”

Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019

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