McHenry County’s 1st Tesla squad car will be in Lakewood Police Department fleet

The Lakewood Police Department will be the first to have a Tesla electric squad car in McHenry County after trustees reversed last week’s denial vote with unanimous approval last week.

The department proposed the purchase of a 2025 Tesla Model Y vehicle for $50,405 as a way to save money on gas and maintenance. Village trustees voted Dec. 17 in favor of purchasing the car in a 3-2 vote last week, but the motion still failed, as it needed at least four votes, Village President David Stavropoulos said.

Police Chief Mike Roth said the department “would be the first [in the county], but I have not encountered any risk. We have done a lot research on this and talked to people.”

The police department originally proposed financing the new car with a 10% down payment. But trustees unanimously voted to purchase the vehicle outright to avoid paying interest.

“If we didn’t finance this Tesla, we would be saving over the five years an additional $8,000, just not [paying] interest,” Trustee Trisha Babischkin said. “I think owning it outright from the get-go and save the interest, it allows us to have a little more bargaining power if this experiment doesn’t work for whatever reason.”

The purchase qualifies for a $7,500 tax incentive through the U.S. Department of Energy. Village Manager Jean Heckman expressed concerns that the incentive might go away after President-elect Donald Trump reenters the White House next month. Trump previously vowed to remove the federal tax credits for electric vehicles as part of his campaign. Tesla CEO and Trump ally Elon Musk has shown support for canceling the tax credits, saying it will hurt his competitors more than it would hurt Tesla, according to The Associated Press.

Heckman said the proposed purchase was brought back to the board “to be transparent and as part of trying to be fiscally responsible.”

To qualify for the tax incentives, the police department will need to have the new car equipped and in service before the end of this year. Roth expects to get that done within the required two weeks despite some inventory concerns.

“If we can get it delivered, we can get it on the road,” he said.

Trustee Mike Fischer estimates that the electric car will save the village about $30,000 in four years.

“If you found a way of saving the village $8,300 a year, I don’t care what the brand of the car is, I don’t care if it’s an electric car,” he said. “When you just take a look at the math on this, I believe that it will make sense.”

The police department has nine officers and four vehicles, Roth said. The department started a lease with Enterprise for three Dodge Durango police cars in 2021. Since then, two vehicles have been replaced, with one having a remaining 24 monthly payments of $674 and a balance of more than $16,000, according to village documents.

Instead of selling the Durango with two years' worth of payments left on it, the village will transfer the lease over to the public works department.

Having an electric vehicle could bring further savings from fuel, oil changes and brake repairs. Each police car uses about $7,500 in gas each year, according to village documents. An extra $11,113 would go toward installing the charger at the public works department and equipping the electric vehicle. A $550 charging station and $225 in floor mats are included in the $50,000 vehicle price tag.

“Believe me when I tell you the police department’s motives in this were the village’s best at heart,” Roth said. “We really want to keep the cost down.”