Tesla is the only EV maker that will be able to meet US police departments’ vehicle needs and its Model Y or upcoming Cybertruck can be retrofitted to serve as a police car just like the usual Dodge, Ford, or Chevy. A Tesla Model Y journey to a Model PD has now been detailed, complete with the cage and Windows computer inside.
While Tesla doesn’t produce dedicated police cars, there are companies which retrofit existing Teslas for the needs of local departments which are increasingly ordering batches of them for their patrolling needs. Dubbed the Tesla Model PD, one such retrofit has been detailed extensively in the video below, both in terms of interior and exterior changes such as lighting.
First off, the Model Y has been equipped with a large push bumper that takes kinetic energy away of the vehicle’s structure when accidents or deliberate ramming occur. Instead of a glass Model Y roof, the Model PD is retrofitted with a carbon fiber one so that a roof bar and headliner for dome lights could be installed. The fancy alloy wheels have been replaced with simpler and tougher steel ones with police-grade tires on them, while the head, tail, and fog lights have integrated red and blue illumination.
The most interesting changes to the Model Y, however, are on the inside. The Model PD carpeting was replaced with durable vinyl rubber liner for easier cleaning, and the seats reupholstered in material that could withstand the constant threat of wear and tear presented by gun belts, handcuffs, and the like. A rear seat cage has been installed, too, while at the front the main Model Y screen of Tesla was hooked up to the police computer used in the field, keyboard and all. That’s perhaps the quirkiest retrofit for a Tesla fan, as the large central console display that is used for vehicle commands or infotainment, is now showing a Windows desktop with all the police app icons on it.
Model PD – the company that does the retrofit – says that Tesla’s electric car has been given all the police vehicle accoutrements that it outfits “traditional” Dodge, Ford, or Chevy police cars with. As soon as the Cybertruck electric pickup gets released in September, they add, the firm will start working on its Cybertruck PD conversion, too.
As if to prove the viability of the Model Y turned into a Model PD, a lengthy hot pursuit video from one such retrofit shows that the Tesla EV’s powerful acceleration and speed numbers can easily match those of a Mustang trying to get away.
While some police departments balked at the Model Y as a police vehicle last year at the height of its pricing, the South Pasadena PD recently unveiled the nation’s first patrol fleet consisting entirely of electric vehicles, and they were all Teslas. According to the Model PD modders, there will soon be thousands of electric police vehicles on the streets. They, however, bet on retrofitting Teslas, as it turned out to be the only automaker that can reliably provide suitable EVs at scale for now, while they probed Rivian and Ford, too.
Daniel Zlatev – Tech Writer – 770 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2021
Wooed by tech since the industrial espionage of Apple computers and the times of pixelized Nintendos, Daniel went and opened a gaming club when personal computers and consoles were still an expensive rarity. Nowadays, fascination is not with specs and speed but rather the lifestyle that computers in our pocket, house, and car have shoehorned us in, from the infinite scroll and the privacy hazards to authenticating every bit and move of our existence.
