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California cops who are trialing Teslas ahead of ban on gas vehicles say they are 'nearly unusable'
Dailymail.Com ^ | 16 October 2024 | Melissa Koenig

Posted on 10/16/2024 3:29:16 AM PDT by dennisw

Among the California police departments that have tried using Teslas was the Ukiah Police Department, the largest municipal police force in Mendocino County.

There, Police Chief Cedrick Crook requested the City Council approve the purchase of two Tesla Model 3s, which is the company's sedan, on August 7, 2024.

That purchase totaled nearly $150,000 between the cost of the cars and $35,000 in modifications to make the Teslas patrol-ready, Crook told the San Francisco Gate.

He said the vehicles needed the standard emergency lights, sirens, radio, antenna, push bar, partition and gun rack, but the Teslas also needed to be upgraded with ballistic panels to toughen it up for the streets.

The problem is that there is only one modification shop for Teslas in the state: Unplugged Performance in Hawthorne, which is about 500 miles south of Ukiah.

Store employees said it would take months to make all the modifications necessary to make the vehicles patrol-ready.

Adding to the issues with the cars, only two Tesla Supercharger stations have been installed in the city over the past two years. It remains unclear how officers would be charging the electric vehicles, Crook said.

He noted that police are often required to transport suspects, witnesses or victims to trials or court dates, which could be far away, and if detectives were driving a Tesla, Crook said they would have to spend time at an unsecured public charging station while protecting the person.

Since then, a number of local municipalities have implemented their own goals to convert their fleet of gas-powered cars to electric vehicles.

But the police chiefs who have purchased Teslas say the design of the cars is detrimental to police operations.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: boondoggle; california; ev
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To: dennisw

Even more ridiculous are electric fire engines and ambulances. Current nt battery technology doesn’t have the stamina to support emergency lights, radios and be able to pump water or keep life support equipment running. St Paul, MN recently purchased an EV fire vehicle, but hidden in the fine print of the story there is a diesel engine on board to run the pumps.


41 posted on 10/16/2024 7:34:32 AM PDT by The Great RJ
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To: one guy in new jersey

Yes...Dateline.
Appreciate the specificity.
Boomers get foggy brained...we’ve seen and experienced so much.


42 posted on 10/16/2024 7:51:47 AM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (When I say "We" I speak of, -not for-, "We the People")
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To: dennisw
the vehicles needed the standard emergency lights, sirens, radio, antenna, push bar, partition and gun rack, but the Teslas also needed to be upgraded with ballistic panels

Sounds like adding a whole lot of current draw and weight, which will greatly reduce the vehicle’s range. Not to mention all the hours spent routinely out of service to recharge. Brilliant. So they obviously can’t be patrol cars — but the brass can use them as take-home vehicles, though!!!

43 posted on 10/16/2024 7:59:02 AM PDT by FoxInSocks ("Hope is not a course of action." — M. O'Neal, USMC)
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To: Zhang Fei

Armored Cybertruck that can take 50 caliber BMG rounds. And of course roof mount a DShK 12.7mm in true mad Max style to keep the serfs in check. Oh it has a 800V APU that can not only keep it charged anywhere all the time it runs off jet fuel(A1,A2,JP8,JP5),Diesel,or marine gasoil. #dowant

https://armyrecognition.com/news/army-news/army-news-2024/archimedes-defence-unveils-military-grade-tesla-cybertruck-apc-with-ceramic-armor-and-800v-generator

It’s only for political and ideological reasons Tesla doesn’t offer APU for any of its vehicles. A small one cylinder 500cc high compression direct injection motorcycle engine would put put 75hp if turbocharged 50 without. 50hp is twice what a model S sized vehicle need to rub steady at 85 mph.

A 800V 400hz 75go generator would be the size of a 5lb coffee can or smaller. For comparison the 120kva 400hz integrated drive generator on a 777 with its gearbox is the size of a watermelon and I personally have held one with two hands. 120kva is 120kw at 1000v or 162hp.

Once you trash 60hz mid 19century rubbish and move to modern technology generators get crazy small. Modern silicon carbide rectifier/inverters turn 400+hz in to HVDC at 98% eff. You have three of those on board any EV anyways they are the drive freq converters for the AC induction motors it’s why Tesla as re called Tesla that genius invented the polyphase AC system that fundamentally changed humanity. The AC power grid is polyphase AC at is core.

Here again a 500cc engine with GDI which orbital proved years ago could burn any flammable liquid once you go to 2000+ psi injectors directly driving a high speed high voltage high frequency AC genset would put 50+kw into a half held size package easily fits in the Frunk of any Tesla add in a 5 gal fuel cell foam filled so it can’t leak in a crash Bob’s your uncle. Added bonus is running a generator at peak efficiency would turn out 80-100mpg numbers for a tesla S sized car. The Chinese have just such a car it’s a 5 passenger plug in hybrid that got 2.2l/100km in real world driving around a Chinese City at rush hour and afternoon traffic. 2.2l/100km is 108mpg US. That’s what happens when you only charge the pack at 40+% BSFC no ICE anywhere can touch that due to physics. You design your genset from the start to run at one BSFC point and maximize fuel economy for just that point you get 45% chemical energy to the crank shaft and 40% to the pack/wheele no conventional ICE can do that. Largely due to having to vary the output over a huge range and lots of gear ratios.

Tesla could turn out 100+ mpg cars next month they won’t for ideological reasons. Shaun my good friend works for Tesla in Austin on the cybertruck line he is an engineer they already tested an APU like the military version above...50mpg running off diesel and 45ish with petrol so I know it can be done tesla already tested it. They WON’T not they can’t. They are committed to EV only and now fuel cells too hydrogen or ethanol via reforming to hydrogen on-board.


44 posted on 10/16/2024 8:01:02 AM PDT by GenXPolymath
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To: Alberta's Child

If you are bound and determined to take the EV plunge to see for yourself, it seems to me the best way to go is to lease one.

That’s what my son, who lives in NYC, does. His building, as part of the condo he owns, provides a free charging station parking spot. He and his wife like their Tesla and take day trips all the time with it. They’ve been down here to Georgia and SC twice without any trouble. The only thing he has to do is to plan out where/when he’s going and locate the particular charging stations he wants/needs to use. That said, I can’t see myself owning one. Too expensive.


45 posted on 10/16/2024 8:07:49 AM PDT by Gaffer
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To: dennisw

Some of this is really stupid. For instance; “It remains unclear how officers would be charging the electric vehicles, Crook said.”. Why can’t they be charged at the police station? My brother charges their Y on a 30amp dryer circuit at home. Charging is not a problem, especially if 60 amp circuits are installed.


46 posted on 10/16/2024 8:12:18 AM PDT by dynoman (Objectivity is the essence of intelligence. - Marilyn vos Savant)
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To: butlerweave

Simple fender benders can cost a fortune to deal with for an electric vehicle.

Cop cars are much more likely to have that issue than average vehicle—for a bunch of reasons.

This is a great way to flush lots of taxpayer cash down the toilet.


47 posted on 10/16/2024 8:16:57 AM PDT by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: BobL

My buddy Shaun works as an engineer for Tesla. They already have tested small and medium APU generators for various Tesla that would fit in the Frunk. Specifically the cybertruck it turns it into a plug in hybrid that goes it’s first 200 miles off the plug then 50+ mpg off diesel for as many gallons as you want to carry. 10 gal would send a cybertruck 700 miles with a full charge. They have they tech in house to do this next month they WONT Elon is committed to pure EV and now hydrogen fuel cells which he needs fuel cell tech to go to Mars that’s the only reason fuel cells are entering Tesla/SpaceX ecosystems.

A small 500cc high compression direct injection motorcycle sized engine is less than 2 cubic feet of volume the 75hp generator is coffee can sized at 400hz and 800V. 14:1 compression with 18:1 expansion, GDI at 8000psi can turn diesel into vapor for spark ignition. The military uses those injectors for outboard motors the seals use that run on Navy JP5 btw. They are an off the shelf product. So you have a tiny 50hp diesel turning a 6000 rpm tiny 800V power source at 40+% chemical to electrons at the pack level.

Once you have 800V DC the pack nor motors care where it came from they can’t tell if it’s wall power or generator power. Just like a diesel locomotive that turns generator to spin electric motors on the wheels same same. Those locos are the most efficient land vehicles exactly because of the diesel electric drive system not in spite of it.

Let me say it again Tesla could put out 100mpg cars next month they won’t for ideological reasons. For cop use it would solve every issue brought up here while tripling fuel eff.

So it’s not that they refuse to adapt to technology they have the technology in house to make plugs in hybrids which would solve overnight range anxiety in fact it would triple range for the same amount of fossil fuels. Solve charge locations since you have a charger onboard all the time. To please the greens since high pressure GDI burn any flammable liquid you could burn biofuels like biodiesel or ethanol or methanol made with solar/wind/nuclear power via electrolysis. Same for ammonia tops. You could just program the ECU to not accept gasoline at 14:1 compression or higher it would take special programming anyways all the other fuels have no problem at 16:1 or higher.

Tesla can they won’t it really is Elons ideology that stops them.


48 posted on 10/16/2024 8:27:19 AM PDT by GenXPolymath
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To: GenXPolymath

[Tesla could turn out 100+ mpg cars next month they won’t for ideological reasons. Shaun my good friend works for Tesla in Austin on the cybertruck line he is an engineer they already tested an APU like the military version above...50mpg running off diesel and 45ish with petrol so I know it can be done tesla already tested it. They WON’T not they can’t. They are committed to EV only and now fuel cells too hydrogen or ethanol via reforming to hydrogen on-board.]


If true, this would be a game changer.


49 posted on 10/16/2024 8:30:30 AM PDT by Zhang Fei (My dad had a Delta 88. That was a car. It was like driving your living room)
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To: dennisw

Great way to keep crime high while importing criminals willing to do the rough jobs Americans wont do.


50 posted on 10/16/2024 8:39:51 AM PDT by If You Want It Fixed - Fix It
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To: mund1011

Funny you bring up trade-in value/equity. That was mentioned in German business news today. E-car equity is suffering, but they include Chinese E-cars sold in-country within the numbers.

When I was asking questions (4 years ago) with the dealers...what bothered me the most was the value of a 4-year old E-car...in terms of batteries. You’d have to take a older car...swap-out batteries, to get your max value. So I saw this as a problem...you’d have to spend a fair amount of money on a 4-year old car...to retrain value for re-selling.


51 posted on 10/16/2024 8:42:59 AM PDT by pepsionice
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To: Zhang Fei

China already has this exact concept. Watch the video this is not on a test track nor a engineer doing hypermilling it’s a journalist just driving their BYD plug in hybrid. They ran the pack to zero so it’s all generator to wheels at this point. Legit 108 mpg equivalent. It’s not IF it can be done it’s do or do not like Yoda said. Oh and thus BYD sells for $14,000 American in China . They plan to make and sell them in Mexico once the giant BYD factor there gets finished. They will crush the Mexican market with those. It’s the ideal car for nearly every use case. 100km on the pack at like 8 cents per kWh so under 2 cents per mile. Then 100+ mpg in typical suburban and urban use. They will as the Don said bloodbath the American Auto industry if they could sell those here at even 25,000 they would be nearly half the cost of a new American car which us 45,000 avg now. The technology is already in existence it’s the will or more correctly the political will to force the opening of the market to that technology. F the big three and their UAW they should be crushed. Tesla has the tech as a hedge against China getting to sell that same tech here as long as they are banned Tesla won’t ever do a plug in hybrid for ideological reasons. They will do fuel cells to get the consumer to pay for their Mars tech.

https://www.reddit.com/r/electricvehicles/comments/1d3duyj/byd_dmi_50_city_driving_efficiency_test_empty/


52 posted on 10/16/2024 8:44:11 AM PDT by GenXPolymath
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To: mund1011

My brother-in-law and his wife had an electric Volvo. She totaled it in what would have been a minor fender bender for a gas vehicle. Actually it was a minor fender bender for the other car which was a gas vehicle. Looking at the pictures I am truly surprised that she was not seriously injured. But God protects fools and idiots apparently. They went out and bought the same car again within a week.


53 posted on 10/16/2024 9:15:33 AM PDT by ChildOfThe60s ("If you can remember the 60s....you weren't really there")
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To: dennisw

In Tesla’s defense, the problem is not the brand but the type of car.


54 posted on 10/16/2024 9:16:19 AM PDT by ChildOfThe60s ("If you can remember the 60s....you weren't really there")
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To: Cletus.D.Yokel
NBC's 20/20 doing an updated test?

Your question provides a more accurate summary than you likely realize! AXA insurance correctly assessed that torching a real model S battery in their demonstration would be both too dangerous and difficult to extinguish even with fire personnel standing by with a foam truck and other specialized equipment. This was a staged event based on insurance company data meant to point out the hazard of electric vehicle battery fires after the battery compartment has been compromised in some way. In this clumsily produced demonstration no visible damage was done to the battery compartment and no Model S battery was present.

Electric cars are no more likely to catch on fire than a gasoline powered car in a crash, but the difficulty of putting out an electrical vehicle fire when it does happen is exponentially greater. I retired from my own decades long career working as a firefighter and hazmat team leader just as electric vehicles started becoming popular. But even the much smaller and lighter batteries found in hybrid vehicles were already creating additional challenges for my crews and I. Of course, electric trucks with batteries several times larger than cars result in much greater risks. Many people might remember the chaos a couple of years ago when an electric truck fire shut down I-80 for nearly an entire day. They had to use an air tanker to help get it under control and drag the still burning wreckage to another location to eventually get the freeway open.

“According to the NTSB, the Tesla truck was approximately 30 miles from Lake Tahoe traveling eastbound along Interstate 80 when the crash occurred at 3:15am on August 19, sending the Semi into a conflagration. Authorities were forced to close the highway, which serves as one of a handful of ways in the area through the Sierra Nevada mountains, for 14 hours while working to extinguish the blaze and attend to the wreck. The Tesla was then taken to an open-air location and kept under observation for 24 hours to make sure the batteries didn't catch fire again. (Re-ignition can be a problem with lithium-ion fires, as their makeup effectively gives them all three parts of the so-called “fire triangle” needed for a blaze to occur.)”

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a62188058/tesla-semi-crash-fire-required-50000-gallons-of-water-and-fire-fighting-aircraft/

55 posted on 10/16/2024 10:05:47 AM PDT by fireman15 (Irritating people are the grit from which we fashion our pearl. I provide the grit. You're Welcome.)
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To: dennisw

All that trouble & expense for an EV police car? That is expensive, needless, & ridiculous. but supposing it had decided on a lesser EV than a Tesla.


56 posted on 10/16/2024 11:47:42 AM PDT by oldtech
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To: Vaduz

The name is “Smokey Bear”,
not “Smokey The Bear”.


57 posted on 10/16/2024 12:29:44 PM PDT by Lean-Right (Eat More Moose)
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To: Lean-Right

Same thing hair splitting


58 posted on 10/16/2024 12:40:42 PM PDT by Vaduz
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To: Vaduz

No, it isn’t when it comes
to a name.
The little guy may be a bear,
burned near to death, but
his name is Smokey Bear.
Dare you to visit a little
cafe in Capitan, NM, and call
him “Smokey The Bear”.
Been there many times, and
know the owner. Those in
Capitan will debate splittin’
that hair with you. And I
hope they don’t burn your
breakfast in the process.
They take a lot of pride
in the Smokey Bear saga.


59 posted on 10/16/2024 6:32:52 PM PDT by Lean-Right (Eat More Moose)
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To: Lean-Right

As usual spell check names
a wine instead of a town or
rank.

Capitain....
My apologies.


60 posted on 10/16/2024 6:50:26 PM PDT by Lean-Right (Eat More Moose)
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