Electric car company Tesla appears to be courting U.S. law enforcement agencies and has already managed to woo one of the nation's largest police departments.
The Los Angeles Police Department already has two Model S P85D cars on loan and has been testing the vehicles for more than a year, according to CNBC.
"Tesla definitely stepped up and gave us the Model S to do some evaluation with them," LAPD Police Administrator Vartan Yegiyan told the news outlet, adding that Tesla is helping the agency "assess the vehicle's performance in our environment and to learn what are the drawbacks and positives of this type of vehicle in our fleet operation. Not only on the regular transportation side, but also the future in the high-pursuit-rated vehicle arena."
Yegiyan, however, isn't sold just yet on Tesla as a viable option, calling the vehicles impractical and too expensive. The Tesla Model S P85D carries a manufacturer's suggested retail price of around $100,000 while Ford's Explorer-based Police Interceptor SUV -- the nation's top-selling police model -- ranges in price from about $30,000-$50,000.
Though that doesn't mean she doesn't think they won't gain a hold of the market in the future.
"(Over) next three to five years ... not only will the industry push toward electrification, but prices will drop on vehicles," she said. "More models will be coming out, and the electricity and electrical grid will become more robust, and more charging stations will be available. While that's occurring we'll be in the space learning and contributing to the process."
Tom Libby, an analyst at IHS Automotive, told CNBC that there may be pressure for police departments from above to go electric, using the luxury-priced Tesla Model S "doesn't make any sense from a budget standpoint."
Ford currently holds a 61 percent share on the U.S. police vehicle market while Chevrolet has about 21 percent and Dodge has about 18 percent.
While departments may not be going all-electric anytime soon, some has made the transition to hybrid vehicles. New York City made about 1,300 Ford Fusion hybrids available for mixed use between NYPD and other municipal agencies while other police departments use Toyota's Prius hybrids for undercover work and traffic enforcement.
