# Idle efficiency - Police Cars?



## Madmolecule (Oct 8, 2018)

I see police cars idling most of the time. This seems very inefficient compared to a Tesla, which would only use power for climate and electronics. Has any comparisons done between Tesla’s and ICE cars that idle most of the day or the start & stopping of a mail carrier.


----------



## FF35 (Jul 13, 2018)

Madmolecule said:


> I see police cars idling most of the time. This seems very inefficient compared to a Tesla, which would only use power for climate and electronics. Has any comparisons done between Tesla's and ICE cars that idle most of the day or the start & stopping of a mail carrier.


Police departments use Bolts and Telsa's for police cars.


----------



## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

Police leave their cars idling all the time just for the generator to charge the battery. With the heavy electronics load that they have, batteries tend to run down pretty quickly.


----------



## mishakim (Sep 13, 2017)

One of the principal differences between a stock Crown Vic and the Police Interceptor version was how long it could idle without overheating. Now, Ford makes a police version of the Fusion hybrid and one of the selling points is that the HV electric system eliminates the need for that.


----------



## Madmolecule (Oct 8, 2018)

It just doesn't seem very efficient to run 8-cylinders to keep a computer, radar and a/c running. I just wonder what the typical mile per gal for a cruiser is. It is probably in the 1-2 mpg once the idle time is factored in.


----------



## JWardell (May 9, 2016)

They're idling for two reasons. To run the HVAC to keep the occupants comfortable, and so they can react immediately if they have to chase after someone.
They have oversized alternators and batteries to handle the slight additional electrical loads of lights and computer...that's really nothing compared the the beefed up cooling they have to support idling for hours without moving.
Electric cars would absolutely be 99.9% more efficient for police, and a lot quicker as chase cars as well!
But police cars also need to be super durable and very inexpensive especially for parts...Tesla is not there yet.


----------

