Numerous electric police cruisers have begun popping up around the world, but what’s stopping our police departments from cutting emissions entirely?
The New South Wales Police Force has confirmed a 12-month EV testing period for a Hyundai Kona cruiser, according to New Zealand publication stuff, which is also posing the question of why the practice hasn’t yet become the norm for its own police departments.
Despite previous reports of Indiana police praising their Tesla Model 3 fleet’s savings on maintenance and gas, as well as a slew of departments adding single EVs and electric fleets to their repertoire, the practice of going electric is still just picking up momentum.
Ann Arbor Police to Add Ford Mustang Mach-E to Vehicle Fleet https://t.co/nkRIa6fDg7
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) January 4, 2021
In a press release, New Zealand police recently announced the use of Skoda as its EV supplier, along with claims that it would be expanding its use of low and zero-emissions vehicles within the country’s police department fleet, in a 10-year fleet strategy. However, there’s still no real information in or beyond the release, as of yet, on the department’s actual plans to enact the strategy.
“When contacted by Stuff, a Police spokesperson said that there are currently eight electric vehicles in the fleet (not frontline), four of which were purchased and four leased,” reports the publication.
While this is just one example of a police community’s slowed response to the world’s transition to EVs, it’s not dissimilar to those of police departments around the world.
In any case, the police set an important precedent for the average consumer. And with a swift, all-encompassing adoption of EVs by police departments worldwide, our police could have the chance to take part in a major worldwide change as early adopters.
