Tesla Model 3 has been selected as new police vehicle by Dallas County

Dallas County has authorized the purchase of three Tesla Model 3 vehicles to be used by the local police. It’s the latest example of electric vehicles gaining popularity with law enforcement.

Tesla vehicles have become the go-to EV for police departments around the world. Many have started adding Tesla Model 3s to their fleets, most recently the NYPD.

Last year, the Model Y started to gain momentum.

Fremont police and the Spokane Police Department both bought Model Ys to use as patrol vehicles, and Boulder’s police department also went with the electric SUV.

Any type of use that requires a lot of mileage is going to benefit greatly from the gas and maintenance savings of going electric. Police patrol vehicles fit that use case.

Last week the Dallas County Commissioners approved the purchase of three Tesla Model 3 Performance vehicles for use by the local police.

They want to use them as police vehicles, but they haven’t had the time to validate the Tesla Model 3 based on their requirements. For fear of the backlog becoming too long, they decided to purchase the vehicles right away and place them in their reserve unit (via NBC):

A briefing given to the County Commissioners states “as a result of the ongoing semiconductor microchip and supply chain issues, the length of time to determine if vehicles meet the replacement criteria guidelines could potentially result in ordering banks from the manufacturers to be closed. The recommendation is to purchase the three Tesla Model 3 Performance electric vehicles and have them placed as part of the ASC reserve unit.

Tesla has a growing backlog of orders for many vehicles and trims, but the Model 3 Performance is one of the few versions that you can still get pretty fast with a listed delivery timeline of June to August for new orders.