West Shore Mountains Using Electricity with Tesla and Mustang

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The Cavalry of the West Shore RCMP Detachment will be the first in Canada to begin regular patrols and frontline police operations on the marked Tesla electric vehicle.

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The detachment will also introduce the Ford Mustang Mach-EGT to its fleet at some point this year for testing.

Todd Preston, head of the detachment, said two Tesla Model Y vehicles were installed in Ottawa and within a few months of Langford, Colwood, Highland, Viewroyal, Metchosin, Eskimalt and Sonhees. He said he would be on the streets of the indigenous people.

“They are super-energetic cars and can go 500 kilometers on a single charge,” Preston said Thursday in Langford. It is scheduled to be completed by June 2023.

“Our executives couldn’t get any more excited about this,” Preston said of the electric car.

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He said the Westshore RCMP was Canada’s first army, using Tesla for frontline police and daily use, but about 30 departments in the United States are already using Tesla.

RCMP owns just over 10,000 police vehicles with annual sales of about 1,500 and is committed to achieving zero emissions by 2050.

According to Preston, the Tesla Model Y will be spacious and powerful and will be equipped with all the equipment executives need, including special bumpers and attachments for attaching light bars to the vehicle’s glass roof.

According to Tesla, the Model Y is an all-wheel drive with two independent electric motors that can digitally control front and rear wheel torque to improve handling, traction and stability control and function off-road. will do so.

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Heather Kellington, a Tesla owner on Vancouver Island driving the new Model Y, was asked if the car was powerful enough to track police.

“If you are a passenger, keep drinking coffee,” she said. “(Acceleration) will bring you back to your seat.”

The 3.6-acre Tesla facility is built on the edge of the 50-acre site of the Seacliff Property in Citygate Boulevard, opposite Costco. Here, a small mountain is removed from the landscape for the development of nine separate condominiums.

All but one site is for sale. The first site under construction by Kelowna-based High Street Ventures sold out 225 units online within a year without a showroom, said Jeany Lee, director of acquisition and asset management at Seacliff.

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According to Lee, the company has leased land to Tesla and is building a custom-built facility. She said it was Tesla’s first bespoke store in Canada. She added that the current 21 stores nationwide were built from former car dealerships.

According to Lee, Langford’s Tesla store has a service bay and showroom, allowing the company to display all models in multiple colors. She said there would also be a large parking lot and room to display more vehicles.

Mayor Stew Young estimates that the building is worth $ 40 to $ 50 million, and the Tesla store will create up to 50 full-time jobs.

The Tesla brand will bring other opportunities to Langford, said Dalegan, chairman of Langford’s Economic Development Commission.

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Langford said he hopes the new Tesla facility will draw the attention of Elon Musk, the company’s CEO, the founder of SpaceX, and an early investor in multiple tech businesses. rice field.

“If you make something like this, other tech companies and other tech companies will participate in R & D,” Gan said, already discussing with the mayor about pursuing other opportunities with Musk’s company. He said he was.

Tesla sells the vehicle online and delivers it to the nearest store. In the case of Victoria, it was always Vancouver.

For Tesla owners on the island, the Langford Store facilitates repairs and access to new cars. They relied on Tesla’s “ranger”, a mobile technician, who had to tow the vehicle to Vancouver via a flat-deck truck for major repairs.

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“I’ve been waiting for this for over five years,” Kerrington said. “It’s very exciting for Tesla owners.”

Glenn Garry, director of the Victoria EVA Association, said two-thirds of the estimated 4,000 or more electric vehicles on the island are Tesla models. He said that the number of them is increasing, so it makes sense for Tesla to set up a base in the area.

According to Young, the city is working to convert 20 vehicles to electricity by 2027, increasing the number of charging stations across Langford, including the four stations at the RCMP distribution station.

“This is part of every new community plan. [condo] The building now needs to be wired for charging, “Young said. “As we get taller, all parking lots will have access to charging.”

Mike Riley, a former chairman of the West Shore Chamber of Commerce, said the Tesla brand is a major victory for Langford, bringing growth, employment, economic and ethical travel to its residents.

dkloster@timescolonist.com

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