With local governments trying to get on the environment's good side (and on the EPA's grant list), municipalities are trying to green their automotive fleets in a variety of ways. Some are adding conversion kits that allow their cars to run on natural gas while others are going the electric route. Elon Musk saw an opportunity here and decided to give the LAPD a Tesla Model S P85D to try out. Tesla had hopes that the police department would like the car enough to try and buy more.

The P85D comes with Ludicrous mode that rockets the sedan from 0-60 mph in 2.8 seconds, fast enough to catch most speeding Ferrari and Porsche owners. Unfortunately, the LAPD gave the Tesla back simply because they couldn't afford it. A standard Ford Police Interceptor Utility costs $31,175 while the Model S P85D costs $120,000. This means that the LAPD could buy nearly four Interceptors for the price of a single Tesla. Unlike the Dubai police force, LAPD does not have a supercar budget. The Tesla also has the handicap of coming with the range and charge time limitations. These greatly impact the ability for police to do work. Until an affordable EV with an extended range hits the market, we'll be sticking to the original cop cars.