Everyone now knows the Alpine A110 of the national gendarmerie, these pretty replacements for the aging Renault Mégane RS of the third generation now crisscrossing the French motorways in search of speeders. Would the military consider expanding their fleets of rapid intervention vehicles with new high-performance electric sedans?
That’s what you might think when you discover this image of a blue Tesla Model S photographed by one of our readers in an industrial area, near the Le Mans 24-hour circuit. It shows a copy of the American sedan in its old version, equipped with “W” plates and a light bar on the roof. We also notice a small poster probably marked “Gendarmerie” on the passenger side sun visor. However, there is no screen printing on the body of the car.
A Tesla for the gendarmes?
So, is it a vehicle assessed by the gendarmerie with a view to possible use by the services as reinforcements for the Seat Leon Cupra and other Alpine A110s? Of a vehicle seized and reassigned for the French military? Or rather a show car prepared by a company unrelated to law enforcement? Contacted in this regard, the services of the gendarmerie of Le Mans tell us that they are not aware of such a project.
Update : we finally have the end of the story. This blue Tesla Model S will be exhibited this weekend at the “Big Car Show”, an event organized on the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans. Fitted with a Rauwers Valor light bar, it also has a two-tone horn and a “police” back-lit sun visor. It will be screen printed like the Alpine A110 of the French military by the company Féroce Graphic during the event. This is a pure exercise in style, aimed at imagining the perfect rapid intervention car for the gendarmerie. But there is no link with any official project of the gendarmes.