To save on fuel costs, especially with cars that idle so much, more police departments around the country are turning to all-electric patrol cars. In Michiana, the first department to try it is a small but busy one.
Walkerton has just 2,000 residents and six full-time officers but Police Chief Matt Schalliol says his is one of the busiest small police departments in the area. That’s because the town sits near the borders of St. Joseph, Marshall, LaPorte and Starke counties, so its officers are often asked to assist others.
Walkerton Police recently won a state of Indiana grant to buy an all-electric patrol car, the first in the region.
Schalliol says it replaces a gas-guzzling 2017 Dodge Charger with a high-performance V8 engine.
"So we're going from, on average, $60 to fill up a tank to nothing, other than some electricity," Schalliol said.
Schalliol says fuel savings will offset the car's higher price in just two years. It’s been assigned to Assistant Chief Charles Kulp.
"He loves it," Schalliol says. "It's pretty neat inside as well because it's got a massive screen in it. It kind of all flows into one. So it goes from your screen with all your driving information, over to where the radio and controls for the car are. And he's able to link his phone up to the car, and so he uses the right side of the screen as his map system. So he has a 19-inch screen for a map system, which is way bigger than you have for a normal car, so it's a lot easier to follow it when you need to, and it's very impressive."
And Schalliol says the car has another big plus.
"It is fast. Like when you step on the pedal to go, it goes now. It's much faster than our other cars."
Police departments in North Webster, Bristol, Winona Lake, Pierceton, and New Carlisle also applied for the grants but were not selected by the Indiana Office of Energy Development.
The town invites the public to a ribbon cutting ceremony for the car Tuesday at 10 a.m. Schallliol said he expects many area police departments will send officers to check it out.
