A Tesla police cruiser ran out of battery during a high-speed pursuit because someone forgot to charge it

Fremont Police

• A Tesla Model S police cruiser ran out of juice during a high-speed pursuit, police in Fremont, California, said this week. 
• According to the East Bay Times, the vehicle wasn't fully charged at the beginning of the shift, like it's supposed to be. 
• The cruiser is part of a pilot program by the police to electrify its fleet, and is expected to save some $50,000 in fuel costs over five years. 
• However, it can take up to an hour to charge, the department warned when purchasing the vehicle earlier this year. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

"I'm down to six miles on the Tesla so I may lose it here in a sec."

Those were the last words officer Jesse Hartman of Fremont Police in the San Francisco Bay Area said before he was forced to yield to other police vehicles involved in a high-speed pursuit in California last week.

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The pursuit happened on Interstate 680 near Milpitas, audio published by the East Bay Times newspaper reveals.

"If someone else is able, can they maneuver into the number one spot?" Hartman asked his fellow officers as they chased a "felony vehicle" at speeds up to 120 miles per hour. His 2014 Model S, meanwhile, was quickly running out of battery.

"The Tesla wasn't fully charged at the beginning of the shift," a Fremont police spokesperson told CBS San Francisco. "This unfortunately happens from time to time even in our vehicles that run on gas, if they aren't refueled at the end of a shift."

Fremont police took delivery of the electric cruiser in March as part of a pilot program that already included a Toyota Prius and Ford Fusion Hybrid. While the car "appears to meet patrol performance requirements" and came with financial and environmental benefits (it's expected to save $50,000 in fuel charges over five years), the department warned of the one-hour charging time between shifts.

Police departments around the country have a long history with electric vehicles. As Quartz points out, the very first police car was an electric, 4-horsepower "paddy wagon" in Akron, Ohio, in 1899. But innovations to the internal combustion engine, and a need for speed, fueled a switch to gas-powered cruisers.

Despite the battery-level struggles, Fremont police eventually located the suspect vehicle after it crashed into some bushes, the East Bay times reported.

"We are easily able to make it through an 11-hour shift with battery power to spare," a Fremont police captain told the news site, adding that there's usually 40-50% battery life remaining in the Tesla at the end of a shift.

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