Electric Vehicle upfitting pioneer Unplugged Performance unveils their inaugural Tesla Model Y Police vehicle to launch their new fleet division, “UPfit.” The UPfit patrol vehicle represents the first public viewing of UPfit’s contributions towards the next generation of police vehicles and made its world debut this past weekend at the world’s largest Tesla gathering, Tesla Takeover in San Luis Obispo, CA.
This significant unveiling further solidifies Unplugged Performance’s commitment to revolutionizing the automotive industry with innovative electric vehicle solutions. This new Public Safety platform joins a lineup of other high-performance vehicles Unplugged Performance has innovated for customized use-cases.
The needs of law enforcement, public safety, military, and corporate fleets are rapidly changing. EVs provide an ideal outcome of taxpayer savings, cleaner air, minimized maintenance downtime, and extreme capability on the job. Police vehicles require an always-on state to support onboard electronics and maintain a readiness to respond at a moment’s notice. As a result, 60% of all gasoline burned in internal combustion Police Vehicles occurs during idling.
Strictly idling, a 2018 Ford Police Interceptor Utility Police Car on average consumes 1633 gallons of fuel per year. Hybrids are a bit better, as a 2022 Ford Interceptor Hybrid consumes 730 gallons yearly, on average. EVs, on the other hand, can power all electronics using minimal energy requirements, and zero gallons of fuel. Communications can always be on, climate control can always be on, and the car is always a split second away from response readiness. This cost-effective solution garners community support, safety and compliance planning.
An UPfit Tesla has many unique complexities that differ from traditional upfitting. Unplugged Performance has an unprecedented 10 years of experience working within Tesla’s unique ecosystem to create ground up winning solutions. Our unique Tesla experience and know-how ensures the upfitting process is done safely and will be reliable for the heavy use of Law Enforcement. Unplugged Performance’s UPfit is a 1-stop solution for specialized vehicle upfitting including electrical, safety, lighting, charging, technology and more, that works seamlessly with Tesla vehicle infrastructure. UPfit holds a key focus on reliability utilizing extensive research, development, and rigorous validation testing in the harshest environments, from extremely high elevations to extremely high temperatures.
“In our 10 years of innovation on Tesla platforms our role has always been to push the limits, be it in motorsports, consumer applications, complete custom vehicles, and now with fleet upfitting for Police Departments. There is no doubt in our mind that the most capable, safest, most comfortable environment for an officer to spend the bulk of their day is inside a properly equipped Tesla police car. Unplugged Performance has the deepest expertise in developing holistic integrated solutions that work seamlessly with the unique Tesla ecosystem. We’re excited to introduce our UPfit division for Tesla Police Vehicles and are confident we represent the best choice for taxpayers and police officers alike.” stated Ben Schaffer, CEO of Unplugged Performance.
Tesla is the undisputed leader in high-volume EV production, making them the validated safest platform choice. In recent years Tesla’s EVs have passed the theoretical stage of being a good idea and have reached critical mass with clear facts supporting low cost of ownership, high uptime, infrastructure solutions and critical mass. Tesla has a proven safety and performance record that ensures that law enforcement can have peace of mind. While competing fleet vehicles brands currently have an up-to 2 year waiting period, Tesla vehicles are available, ready for immediate upfitting. Tesla has proven it’s the industry leader further by having its proprietary charge-port adopted as the new North American Charging Standard (NACS) by competing brands across the globe.
“Selecting Tesla as the platform for our Tesla Patrol Vehicles is a testament to the unparalleled engineering excellence and proven performance they offer,” stated James Hedland, Director of Fleet at Unplugged Performance. “By leveraging Tesla’s technology, we are proud to deliver law enforcement solutions that are not just cutting-edge but also reliable and sustainable, empowering officers to serve their communities with confidence.”
This debut is representative of the Tesla Model Y Police Vehicle that Unplugged Performance’s UPfit will be delivering to South Pasadena, the first city in the US to replace its entire police fleet with EVs.
