EVwire brief: The emergency response fleet of the City of Melville in Western Australia, MelSafe, is now made up of Tesla Model Ys.
Here’s the video explaining why they did it:
Tesla Australia and New Zealand General Manager of Enterprise Sales James Middleton recently highlighted the new fleet case study of MelSafe:
The city reports around AU$70,000 (US$50,000) in annual savings from fuel and maintenance, while also reducing emissions. The vehicles are deployed 24/7 on 12-hour rotations, supporting community safety, ranger services, and emergency response operations.
Mayor Katy Mair said the transition has been a clear win:
“Transitioning to a Tesla fleet has been an absolute success, not only through cost savings, through emissions savings, it's also been a big winner with our community, who think they're fantastic.”
Context:
The Model Y fleet sits at the center of the city’s MelSafe initiative, which combines multiple services into a single, more responsive unit. That includes patrols, animal management, and emergency response, all operating continuously throughout the week.
For a fleet running around the clock, the shift away from combustion vehicles had an immediate operational impact. As the city noted, moving to EVs directly reduced both emissions and running costs across a high-utilization service.
The city’s Model Y fleet is outfitted with custom emergency equipment
Functionality also played a role in the decision. The vehicles were adapted for field use, with integrated systems for emergency lighting, license plate recognition, and animal handling.
Head of Community Safety Mike Emery pointed to the advantage of having everything built into one platform (Tesla for Business), reducing distractions for drivers while maintaining flexibility.
“The biggest advantage for having Teslas was the adaptability and versatility… Having that all integrated into one sleek platform was a big benefit for us and minimized distractions for our drivers.”
From the driver’s perspective, usability mattered just as much. Features like remote cabin pre-conditioning and in-vehicle cameras improved comfort and safety, particularly during long overnight shifts.
As one MelSafe officer noted, being able to cool the car before a shift and rely on built-in visibility systems made a noticeable difference in daily operations.
The City of Melville’s Model Y fleet operates 7 days a week
Mayor Meir summed up the city’s sentiments for its Tesla’s fleet, stating that the experience has been “outstanding.” She also noted that other cities will likely not regret deploying a similar Tesla fleet.
“It ticks all the boxes of our council plan and we're delighted with it and so is our community.”
Source: James Middleton on LinkedIn
DIG DEEPER into the Tesla industry news with our dedicated TESLAWIRE page. And don’t forget to subscribe to our EV industry newsletter to join 14,000+ EV geeks.
