BMW has won a contract to provide the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) with 100 electric cars. The German automaker beat the American company Tesla that manufactures the Model S electric vehicle (EV). BMW will lease 100 i3 all-electric plug-ins to The City of Angels for functions such as community outreach instead of as patrol cars.
The 100 new electric police cars will bring the grand total of EVs The City of Los Angeles is using to 200.
During the past year the LAPD has been road testing Tesla's P85D. It is a version of the Model S that it officially discontinued earlier this year.
It seems LA's police department was considering Tesla's P90D model, which replaced the P85D. However, it decided to use the BMW i3.
Tesla autos can accelerate quickly and their top speeds would be ideal for high-speed car chases. They also have a range of nearly 300 miles.
Meanwhile, the i3 accelerates quickly. Its top speed is lower and can drive a maximum of 100 miles on a single charge.
However, the BMW i3 is also available with a gas engine "extender." It boosts the range to around 150 miles.
The MWV electric car is smaller and less powerful than Tesla EVs. In addition, the green car also has a price tag of $42,000, which is less than half the price of Tesla cars.
Vartan Yegiyan is head of the LAPD's motor transport division. He reported that the BMWs will be leased at $387 per month. Three years of leasing, maintaining, and repairing the 100 cars will have a total cost of around $1.4 million, according to Los Angeles Times.
In addition, the city will spend another $1.5 million to add infrastructure to support the BMWs and other future EVs. That includes charging stations to juice up the electric cars.
In related news, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated at a conference last week that Apple will start producing electric cars by 2020, according to Green Car Reports. Musk thinks the company would make a good electric car but questions if they could start production fast enough to affect the market.
Apple's top-secret "Project Titan" has reportedly been developing the tech giant's first EV.
Here are some top electric cars: