Bargersville Police Department in Indiana may only employ 14 full-time officers, but they ride in style while on patrol. Last month, the town council approved Chief Todd Bertram’s request to add two more Tesla Model 3 cars to the department’s fleet, which already boasts three of the high-end electric vehicles. Despite costing nearly $8,000 more than the popular Dodge Charger, he convinced city officials the long-term fuel and maintenance savings with Tesla was worth the upfront investment.

Bertram conducted a cost comparison between the two makes and found that, during the 16-month Tesla tenure, the department recouped almost all of the extra sticker price, and expects greater long-term savings. Even with lower prices at the pump during COVID-19, Bargersville P.D. paid out $7,580 in fuel for the Chargers and $825 in electricity costs charging the Model 3, reported the Daily Journal. 

The Teslas also appear to demand less maintenance. Other than basic services like new tires, the only big expenditure came after one of the vehicles hit a deer. 

“My experience with Tesla is that it is an amazing car. There is less downtime because there is virtually no maintenance,” Bertram told the council, according to the newspaper.

Conversely, Bertram anticipates some of the aging Chargers in the fleet to require substantial repairs this year, which is why he submitted the request to replace them with Model 3s.

“We hired two people and we are putting them in reserve cars, and I know that is going to be a problem. This is really just me trying to get ahead of a problem that is coming and I think you know is coming, too,” Bertram said at the meeting. 

Automotive news website The Drive reports the chief is so sold on the electric vehicle, that he proclaimed in an interview last year that an exclusively Tesla fleet could save the department enough funds to pay for the hiring of more cops without cutting other areas in the budget.