Tesla’s Model X has had some brushes with law enforcement – in a good way, as when police from Toronto demonstrated one in their patrol car colors to show what it might be like to actually use them. But police from Switzerland’s Basel-Stadt police force are going one further, and actually ordering Model X vehicles for active duty.
The first of these will be delivered this fall, with seven included in the initial order, according to Electrek. And while the upfront cost of the vehicle is more than the average cruiser (the Basel-Stadt pays $97,000 on average for its current diesel-powered patrol vehicles, while a Model X P100D as configured for police use will be around $147,000), they should make up the difference in maintenance and fuel costs over time.
After the first seven cars ship out to the Swiss police this fall, the remaining fleet is slated to be delivered sometime in 2019. As for why the Model X was selected in the end, the Basel-Stadt cited its ecological benefits, as well as cost savings over the life of the vehicle, as well as its storage capacity.