Tesla Model X for Victoria Police

A Tesla Model X has been introduced to highway patrol duties by Victoria Police’s Road Policing Command.

Hailing it as a first for an Australian police organisation, Victoria Police say the Tesla SUV it has bought for an undisclosed price will be trialled across various regions as part of a study to introduce IT-based electric vehicles for police fleet use.

Police will work with Tesla engineers, emergency equipment manufacturers, the department’s vehicle installation contractor and Victoria Police’s IT and communications technicians in fitting equipment and integrating police software into the vehicle’s on-board system.

“This vehicle is unlike any other Victoria Police has ever had in its fleet and could well be the future of road policing in this state, country and the world,” Road Policing Command assistant commissioner Stephen Leane says.

“Our Highway Patrol cars are equipped with cutting edge technology and this car gives us the opportunity to investigate having these technologies in a fully integrated in-car system which has the potential of streamlining the road policing effort.

“There is also a great environmental benefit to electric vehicles and considering our State Highway Patrol vehicles travel thousands of kilometres on the road per year, we should always be looking at ways we can lessen our impact on the environment.”

Leane says the Model X will undergo constant assessment.

“Vehicles are obviously critical to the work we do as they represent the mobile office for many of our frontline police and projects such as these mean that when the switch does inevitably happen, our job of keeping Victorians safe will not be compromised.”