The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has added 100 fully-electric BMW i3s to its fleet.
The announcement comes less than a month after LAPD Police Administrator Vartan Yegiyan said the Tesla Model S currently isn’t practical enough, suggesting that Tesla’s offering is too expensive to be used as a fleet car. At the time however, it seemed as if Yegiyan was also pointing out that the infrastructure wasn’t good enough to employ EVs in LAPD’s fleet, but that’s clearly not the case now.
The decision comes after a field trial where a BMW i3 was evaluated alongside other EVs, like the Tesla Model S, on the streets of Los Angeles as part of the LAPD’s everyday fleet. According to the German automaker, the i3 was selected due to a combination of EPA rated best-in-class efficiency, reliability and state-of-the-art ConnectedDrive services. Also playing a role in the decision was BMW’s extensive knowledge of charging infrastructure and the availability of a large network of BMW i centers for servicing the fleet in a convenient and cost effective way.
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The BMW i3 will serve as the department’s non-emergency fleet vehicles and will be used throughout the department as transportation vehicles for officers and in community outreach initiatives.
The price of the vehicle likely swayed the decision as well, considering the BMW i3 is almost half the price of a Model S.
“The attributes of the BMW i3 position it to excel as the ideal vehicle for municipal organizations. The performance and technical capabilities, such as the BMW i3 ‘s acceleration, and its ConnectedDrive integration, are perfectly suited to transform the future mobility of the Los Angeles Police Department while also reducing their carbon footprint,” said Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO of BMW of North America.
