Chippewa Falls Police roll out new electric vehicle

It has aluminum wheels, a 150-inch turning radius, and gets an awesome top speed of 25 miles an hour – meaning, it probably won't be used in many high-speed pursuits.

The Chippewa Falls Police Department rolled out its new Polaris GEM-e2 parking enforcement vehicle on Monday. The department has had it for a couple weeks now and they are using this in place of its older GO-4 vehicle.

The new GEM E-2 is a much smoother and quieter ride than the GO-4, and also – much cheaper.

"If we were going to purchase another GO-4 scooter, the cost of that from the factory was $31,000. We got this Gem 2 scooter for little over $16,000,” Lt. David Bebeau with the Chippewa Falls Police Department, said to WEAU 13 News on Monday.

Along with being cheaper, the GEM E-2 is fully electric and can run 100 miles on a single charge.

"A hundred miles is a long way to go when you're making the rounds, doing parking enforcement,” Lt. Bebeau said. “Plus, it gets charged every night. We don't have any fears of the vehicles stalling all or losing its charge during the day."