Los Angeles Times
By Charles Fleming
German automaker BMW has beaten California-based Tesla Motors Inc. by winning a contract to supply the Los Angeles Police Department with 100 electric cars.
BMW is leasing 100 of its i3 all-electric plug-in vehicles, which the LAPD plans to use for community outreach and other police business — but not patrols or car chases.
That will bring to almost 200 the number of electric vehicles the city is using in its various departments.
In the last year, the LAPD has been seen testing Tesla’s P85D, a variant of the Model S that has been discontinued. The Police Department was apparently looking at buying or leasing the replacement, the P90D, but decided on the BMW i3 instead.
Weak and small compared with the mighty Tesla, the BMW is also more affordable. The small German electric car costs $42,000, or well under half the Tesla’s price.
Vartan Yegiyan, who oversees the LAPD’s motor transport division, said the BMWs would be leased for $387 a month. A three-year lease for 100 cars will total about $1.4 million, including maintenance and repairs, he said.
Yegiyan said it will cost an additional $1.5 million for the infrastructure to charge the BMWs and other electric vehicles purchased in the future.
Although the Tesla is capable of massive acceleration, top speeds suitable for high-speed chases and a range of almost 300 miles, the smaller, more moderate i3 accelerates quickly, has a lower top speed and can go only 80 to 100 miles on one electric charge.
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