A policeman had to drop out of a pursuit because his electric Tesla patrol car was running low on battery.

Officer Jesse Hartman was chasing a suspect in San Francisco on Friday when he called the dispatch team to say he only had six miles of power left, NBC News reported.

Mr Hartman's shift began at 2pm and the pursuit started at 11pm.

Fremont Police Department spokeswoman Geneva Bosques said the officer was chasing a suspect wanted in connection with a crime in Santa Clara, California.

The police officer had asked the driver to stop, but he failed to pull over before taking off at high speed.


Ms Bosques said other police units were following behind and ultimately took over the pursuit with the help of the California Highway Patrol (CHP).

She added that the chase was called off after 10 minutes when it was deemed unsafe because of the way the suspect was driving.

CHP patrol officers later found the car abandoned in San Jose, California.

A felony warrant has been issued for the driver who has not yet been located.

Ms Bosques said it was unclear why Mr Hartman's Tesla Model S 85 did not have full battery when he started work.

She added that when then one of the vehicles is fully charged it usually has around 40% to 50% of power left once a shift is over.

Ms Bosques said the cars run out of power while out on patrol "from time to time", and added: "Especially if an officer returns to the station to take a report and then they never go back out in the street.

"The officer was monitoring the charge and responsibly notifying everyone of its status during the approximate 10 mile pursuit.

"We had other units behind the Tesla in the pursuit to take over and the CHP was also responding.

"Pursuits on the freeway are usually pretty short in duration, as we turn them over to CHP as soon as they get to our location."

Fremont Police said it is six months into a pilot programme testing the integration of the Tesla with the department.

The force added that it is keeping track off all the relevant data.

Ms Bosques said: "We have no written policy regarding gas or charging, but the general guideline is that it should be half full at the beginning of the shift, which this car was."

She added: "This is the second pursuit the Tesla has performed well in.

"This one instance does not in any way change our feeling regarding the performance of the vehicle for patrol purposes.

"So far the car is meeting or exceeding our expectations. We are still in our first six months of the pilot program and we're keeping track of all the data."