As emergency services prepare to transition to EVs, police departments around the world are trialing fully electric cop cars to find out if EVs can cope with the demands of fast response situations and police pursuits. A few months ago, the Michigan State Police department put a prototype Ford Mustang Mach-E police SUV through its paces and found it was a lot quicker than the department's Ford Police Interceptor Utility.

Police forces in the UK have also been trialing the Tesla Model 3, which has proven to be a capable police car with a minimum loss of driving range despite the extensive modifications. In the US, we could see Tesla Model 3 police cars patrolling the streets of New York sooner rather than later.

According to Bloomberg, the New York City Police Department is considering ordering as many as 250 Model 3s for police duty. A contract uncovered by the publication shows that the NYPD will pay $51,940 for each Model 3 as part of a push to transition to an all-electric fleet. If the deal is made, it will reportedly be valued at around $12.4 million.

With 36,000 officers and a 9,000 vehicle fleet, the NYPD is the largest police department in the US. Although range anxiety is a concern, electric police cars offer lower maintenance and fuel costs than traditional combustion-powered cop cars like the Ford Police Interceptor Utility.

Thankfully, the UK trial has shown the Tesla Model 3 is a formidable cop car capable of 200 miles of range in high-speed driving scenarios and could be charged up by 70 percent in less than 20 minutes at a cost of around $26.

This won't be the first time a Tesla has been used for police duty in New York, however. A Tesla Model Y joined the Hudson Police Department fleet at the start of the year, though it served as a silent detective vehicle instead of a patrol car. The Fremont Police Department in California has also been trialing a Model S and Model Y. The NYPD has also previously used the Chevrolet Bolt back in 2017.