The municipal police of the town now equipped with Tesla Model 3: “It’s a shame that the French manufacturers did not respond to our call for tenders”

Renault, Citroën, Peugeot… And now Tesla. In Mandelieu-la-Napoule (Alpes-Maritimes), municipal police officers were equipped with Tesla brand vehicles.

Four Tesla Model 3s were acquired, the municipality confirmed to Numerama, its director of Public Security Pierre Boutillon, explaining this choice firstly for an “ecological reason”, the objective being to “reduce our emissions”. He also cites an “economic reason”, detailing that each vehicle requires €650 of fuel per month. “Adopting electric vehicles will allow us to reduce this amount by 10,” he argues.

As for recharging, Pierre Boutillon talks to Numerama about “slow recharging to preserve the battery”, the idea being to “keep these Teslas longer” than thermal police vehicles which have a lifespan of five years.

A first in France according to the mayor

“Operational optimization in the city, energy and maintenance savings of 85%,” wrote Mayor Sebastien Leroy on from the American manufacturer.

Why not use the usual national manufacturers? “It’s a shame that the French builders did not respond to our call for tenders,” wrote the councilor.

On its website, the car manufacturer, led by Elon Musk, notably boasts a range of 702 km for this vehicle on a single charge.