The town hall of Mandelieu-la-Napoule has decided to equip its municipal police force with an electric car with 4 Tesla Model 3s. An ecological and economic choice which was made in the absence of a response from French car manufacturers to the call offers from the municipality.
Forever the first. In Mandelieu-la-Napoule near Cannes in the Alpes-Maritimes, the municipal police will drive a Tesla Model 3, a first in France. Four vehicles from Elon Musk's firm will equip the municipality's police forces, said Sébastien Leroy, the mayor of the town of 20,000 inhabitants.
“Mandelieu first municipal police equipped with Tesla”, welcomed the elected official on his X account (formerly Twitter) evoking a car designed for the city and 85% energy and maintenance savings with these electric vehicles.
The Mandelieu municipal police drive a Tesla – 03/12
“We are on €650 of fuel per month and per vehicle. Adopting electric vehicles will allow us to reduce this amount by 10,” assures Numerama Pierre Boutillon, the director of Public Security of Mandelieu-la-Napoule. And while a police car has a lifespan of 5 years, the municipality hopes to go beyond with its Teslas, in particular by favoring slow charging to make the battery of its electric cars last.
If the city's mayor LR chose not to consume locally with American Teslas manufactured in China, it's because he didn't really have any other choice, he assures. After a call for tenders from the municipality, Sébastien Leroy deplores that no French car manufacturer responded.
No French competitor
“Well done for French manufacturers”, analyzes with nuance the teacher Barbara Lefebvre this Tuesday on the set of Big Mouths. “When you don’t know how to defend your steak, well, Tesla, they are reactive, it’s the international competition you wanted.”
“This is the strength of these American brands with very offensive salespeople,” notes former Raid police officer Bruno Pomart who is indeed surprised by the absence of Peugeot, which equips the French police with 3008s and 5008s: “Four cars are not very complicated to provide to a city,” he adds on RMC and RMC Story, deploring French vehicles which are very expensive compared to the competition.
Doctor Jérôme Marty notes that no French electric vehicle can compete with Tesla either “on autonomy” or “on power”. The Tesla Model 3 “is the best value for money,” explains Yohan, who drives one. “There is no equivalent for the level of performance and use it offers,” he assures. The mayor of Mandelieu-la-Napoule ultimately perhaps had no better choice.
Guillaume Dussourt Journalist BFMTV-RMC
