A new Tesla belonging to Zaventem police has been forced to stay in the garage for four years now only because one important document is missing. The car, valued at €120,000, is registered in the Netherlands to a leasing company. As a result, no registration certificate can be issued in Belgium. The municipal authorities in Zaventem (Flemish Brabant) have been trying to sort the matter out via the courts, but in vain. The situation is complicated because in the meantime the Dutch supplier is believed to have gone bankrupt.
It was in 2019 that Zaventem decided to expand its police vehicle fleet with two new electric vehicles. This happened through a public tender in which a Dutch garage owner came out on top. Meanwhile, only one of two Tesla cars delivered is driving around.
Numerous problems
Speaking at a council meeting Mayor Holemans couldn't say when it will be possible to use the other vehicle: “We don't know" he told councillors.
The purchase of the two Tesla cars has been dogged by problems. "We were first told that the delivery was delayed because of the pandemic. Back in October 2020, Zaventem had the garage operator declared in default. The company was ordered to deliver the vehicles and pay damages totalling almost 50,000 euros."
The vehicles were delivered, but then the documents needed to register the cars in Belgium were missing. In May 2022, the papers for one of the cars arrived and the vehicle could be used. Part of the registration certificate for the other Tesla, which now still has Dutch number plates, is missing.
Meanwhile, Zaventem has filed another complaint with the judicial authorities and an investigation for fraud and forgery is ongoing because the car is also still registered in the name of a Dutch leasing company. That company is now said to be bankrupt.
Zaventem’s former chief of police Jean-Pierre Vanthienen, who is following up on the whole case, hopes things will still work out. "This cannot drag on for many more months. We will have to rely on the official receivers. That car has to go on the road, it's as simple as that."