An anonymous donor has gifted a Tesla Cybertruck to the Manalapan Police Department, which will see if the electric vehicle is cost effective. Design image provided
By Jane Musgrave
When a Manalapan resident said he wanted to give a Tesla Cybertruck to the town Police Department, Chief Jeffrey Rasor was dubious.
“I didn’t want them to donate something that couldn’t be used by the agency,” he said.
With no police departments in Florida to turn to for advice, Rasor called the Las Vegas Police Department, which has embraced the futuristic tank-looking electric trucks that still turn heads even three years after their debut.
What Rasor learned was that it was worth a shot. Whether the cost of maintaining and charging up an electric truck will be less than a traditional police vehicle with an internal combustion engine, remains to be seen, he acknowledged.
“Vegas’ opinion was that it can’t be tested in a matter of months,” he said. But, he said, after it’s been on the road for a while, he will be able to determine if the cost savings are worth it.
The truck, which is to arrive in Manalapan in the next several weeks, will mark the first time a Cybertruck has been used as a patrol vehicle in Florida, Rasor said. Nearby Highland Beach has a donated Tesla sedan, but police don’t use it for routine work.
Rasor readily admitted the truck, with its huge front and rear windows and angular design, is going to attract attention.
As a police car, it will be outfitted with all the necessary equipment - flashing lights, sirens and the department’s logo on the side. Unlike its civilian model, with an unpainted stainless steel body, the police car will be white.
Electric vehicles are slowly being added to police fleets throughout the country.
Like Manalapan, Vegas benefited from a gift. It got 10 Cybertrucks from a multimillion-dollar donation from tech venture capitalist Ben Horowitz and his wife, Felicia.
The trucks are expensive. The Cybertrucks in Vegas cost roughly $270,000 each after the police upgrades are added. That adds to the calculus of whether buying them is cost-effective.
Rasor said he didn’t know exactly how much Manalapan’s truck cost. The donor wanted to be anonymous.
The use of Cybertrucks is still somewhat rare. It’s far more common for police departments to add electric sedans to their fleets.
South Pasadena, California, made headlines in 2024 when it announced it had swapped out all of its cars for electric cruisers.
Rasor said there are still some kinks to be worked out. The delivery of Manalapan’s Cybertruck was delayed because there isn’t a smooth supply chain for the police upgrades that are needed.
But, he said, if enough police agencies begin using the trucks, that will change eventually.
In the meantime, he has some math to do. “There’s still a question of whether we’ll see a big cost savings or not,” Rasor said.
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