- The Tesla Cybertruck’s being turned into a police car
- The Irvine Police Department said it’s taking delivery of its police-spec Cybertruck soon
- The conversion to police spec is being handled by UP.FIT
The world hasn’t gotten quite bad enough for the emergence of RoboCop, but the first police Cybertruck will soon report for duty in California.
First spotted by Electrek, the Irvine Police Department announced on X (formerly Twitter) this week that it would soon take delivery of a Cybertruck. No further details were given, but Electrek notes that the accompanying photo indicates the truck looks like one used in promotional materials for UP.FIT, a division of Tesla tuner Unplugged Performance.
Coming soon to Irvine…….#cybertruck #notkidding#irvine #irvinepd #tesla #orangecounty #police #policecar #teslamodels #whelen #cityofirvine #carsofinstagram #policecybertruck #elonmusk pic.twitter.com/jOaoszz9ZD
— Irvine Police Department (@IrvinePolice) July 24, 2024
UP.FIT unveiled a Cybertruck police cruiser last month, saying police departments and other agencies had already expressed interest, and that deliveries would start later this year.
Customers can spec typical police equipment, including radios and any other additional communications equipment, as well as prisoner partitions, storage for weapons and other equipment, and K9 enclosures, UP.FIT said when it unveiled the truck. The company also offers heavy-duty suspension and brake packages, as well as an off-road package.
Tesla Cybertruck Next-Gen Patrol by UP.FIT
While UP.FIT’s offering is an aftermarket conversion, Ford announced an electric police truck based on the F-150 Lightning in 2022, offered through the automaker’s Special Service Vehicle (SSV) factory upfit program. In 2021 the automaker, which has traditionally controlled a large share of the police market, showed a Mustang Mach-E police testbed, and subsequently announced that the NYPD had expressed interest in Mach-E police cars.
But other than small-scale tests, police departments have largely avoided EVs due to a lack of options for suitable vehicles, with cost being a major issue, according to a 2022 report. The Cybertruck starts at $60,990 before any police conversion work.