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Tesla Model S Police Car's Battery Ran Dry During Car Chase

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sirianni said:
I don't get it, it is the 21st century and we can't make an alternate or a generator that can keep an electric car charged???? Why not.
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Tesla is a 100% battery operated vehicle, Chevy Volt is a hybrid. Along with batteries the Volt also has a gasoline engine with an alternator, which can be used to charge the batteries when needed.

In a 100% battery operated vehicle, you can't use the vehicle itself to charge its own batteries. Recharging the batteries must come from an external source.
 
cubby01 said:
Meanwhile, hundreds of gas powered police vehicles probably experience the same scenario and it doesn't make national news. Fuel is fuel, it runs out. Even dilithium crystals run down. Just because it's a Tesla doesn't make it defy the laws of physics.
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Exactly, how many times was a patrol car not filled up the night before and then taken out with less than a full tank? I guess a police car running out of gas is common, but a police car running out of battery power is an event.
 
highvoltage_ said:
Tesla is a 100% battery operated vehicle, Chevy Volt is a hybrid. Along with batteries the Volt also has a gasoline engine with an alternator, which can be used to charge the batteries when needed.

In a 100% battery operated vehicle, you can't use the vehicle itself to charge its own batteries. Recharging the batteries must come from an external source.
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The Volt ICE (internal combustion engine) does not charge the drive motor battery. It only drives motor A to supply electricity to drive motor B, both of which are in the transmission. Only a very small amount is supplied to the drive motor battery to maintain the current level of charge. Regenerative braking does recharge the drive motor battery, but the vehicle must be plugged in to fully charge the drive motor battery. Still, the Volt is a great combination of electric/gas, as you are not tied to a power cord. Commute all week on electric then take off for the weekend without worrying where you are gonna plug in to charge the battery. Too bad GM is dropping it.
 
cubby01 said:
Meanwhile, hundreds of gas powered police vehicles probably experience the same scenario and it doesn't make national news. Fuel is fuel, it runs out. Even dilithium crystals run down. Just because it's a Tesla doesn't make it defy the laws of physics.
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I did a search for "police car runs out of gas during chase" and went through a couple pages of headlines all about the car they were chasing running out of gas. But I didn't find one story about the police car running out.

What is the standard procedure for most police departments on when to refill the tanks in their vehicles? Even at high speeds they are going to get a couple hundred miles out of the size tanks they usually have.

I'd imagine if an officer let their gas tank run low enough that they couldn't complete a chase they'd be in hot water.

I guess they need to refine their procedures for how low they let the batteries get before charging. And then they'd also have to look at how often they would be off the road and charging with those procedures to see if the vehicle is still effective in that use.

And if they drive the Tesla like they drive their other police vehicles I'm sure they eat through a charge pretty fast as most I see around here treat the throttle as an on/off switch even when they aren't responding to a call.
 
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I'm sure its happened but I would expect most departments have a policy where the tank gets filled any time it gets below some point that still has a good amount of fuel remaining. Maybe thats 1/2 tank. Whatever the specifics, its an easy enough thing to deal with. The big difference is to get 300 miles of range out of a gasoline car, you have to spend 5 minutes filling the tank vs a couple hours recharging the batteries. That is and may always be the snag for electric vehicles from a simple usability standpoint.
 
invaderzim said:
I did a search for "police car runs out of gas during chase" and went through a couple pages of headlines all about the car they were chasing running out of gas. But I didn't find one story about the police car running out.
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I think that was kinda my point. But it does happen...
https://www.thenews-messenger.com/story/news/local/2016/01/19/chase-ends-crash-charges/79019794/
"Police scanner traffic indicated that the Findlay officer pursuing Gonzalez had to stop after his police vehicle ran out of gas near U.S. 20 and CR 51."

That said, I believe it's de rigueur for police officers to make sure they have a full tank at the beginning of a shift. My guess is the officer involved will get quite a ribbing for not doing so.

Note, The Telsa has a range of about 240 miles (310 with optional long range setup). A Dodge Charger Pursuit (a popular gas fueled police vehicle) I estimated range about 370. So assuming both are fueled up overnight, if the chase were at end of the day the Dodge clearly has an advantage.
 
I'm pretty sure that, at least in the UK, one pursuit vehicle does not complete the whole pursuit by itself anyway. They often hand off to other police pursuit vehicles in the area, so running out of gas would almost never occur. This tactic is also to avoid pursuit driver 'tunnel vision' where the driver becomes less aware of his / her surroundings due to focusing on the pursuit.
 
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