California Highway Patrol Is Going Electric

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With California apparently sticking to its guns on the whole internal combustion engine cars ban, California Highway Patrol is apparently looking at EV options. While Tesla is the 800-pound gorilla in the market niche, it seems the powers that be are leaning towards Lucid for cruisers.

California police agencies are saying Teslas are almost worthless as patrol cars.

That’s according to Lucid Motors itself, which proudly posted on Elon Musk’s X about how CHP tested out a modified Air to see how it would perform in law enforcement duties. This, of course, made people really excited and also drew some jeers from the naysayers.

The modified Air Lucid posted on X is of course in the black and white color scheme CHP uses. It also has a push bar, which seems to attach to the car’s frame through cutouts in the front bumper cover. Roof lights are also mounted up, with additional lights behind the windshield, but there’s no spotlight. It does, however, roll on plain black wheels.

One commenter on X said if Lucid was able to pony up support for CHP adopting the Air into its fleet, the EV could become “the next Cown Vic.” This is why we love X; people say some wild stuff on Elon Musk’s social media platform.

With a base price of $69,900, Lucid Airs are hardly like the cheap Ford Crown Vics used by police and taxi services back in the day. Keep in mind that price doesn’t include any upfits necessary for police work.

It’s possible if Lucid is serious about catering to law enforcement it might offer a cop-specific version of the Air that’s stripped down and at least partly upfitted already. Ford, GM, and Stellantis all do that and it helps mitigate costs.

But still, the Lucid isn’t exactly cheap. Try to justify that by arguing it doesn’t burn gas, but electricity also isn’t free (unless you live in your mom’s basement).

Only time will tell how serious CHP is taking the Lucid Air and if it’s looking at the Tesla Cybertruck or something else really practical for its future law enforcement activities sans gasoline.

Image via Lucid Motors/X

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