Green Police Cars for Surrey Police

Published on: 22 Aug, 2018
Updated on: 23 Aug, 2018

By Amina Sahbegovic

Greener police cars is the aim of Surrey Police. Together with Sussex Police, they are hoping to be more environmentally friendly by adding electric cars to be used across the two counties.

The popularity of electric cars in the UK has gone up over the last few years with more than 166,000 vehicles on the road today compared to just 3,500 in 2013, according to promotion website next greencar.

In 2017, London Metropolitan Police introduced electric cars into their fleet. In 2018, Hampshire Police was the first non-metropolitan police in the country to make the switch.

Now Surrey and Sussex police are joining the green movement, as 60 electric vehicles went into regular service on August 15.

Police and Crime Commissioner David Munro, has announced that plug-in vehicles joined Surrey and Sussex fleet as each force took ownership of 30 electric vehicles. To do so, they used over 30 old unmarked BMW i3s that were due for replacement.

The new cars will not be the response cars but will be “absolutely vital part of the fleet” Munro said, as they will be used to carry out day-to-day police activities such as visiting victims or witnesses to take statements.

In a short video, Munro named two obvious reasons that pushed them toward this change. First, electric cars are cheaper and the fleets are looking to save around £120,000 over the next 5 years, just from the reduced fuel, servicing, maintenance and repair costs.

In a press release, the police explained that “the new electric vehicles should save approximately 5p per mile on fuel costs and can be driven for around 120 to 200 miles between charges with a small petrol engine in the back as a range extender if required.”

The second reason, according to Munro is that they are “better, cleaner, greener” which puts the two counties forces on the “forefront of a greener, cleaner, technology”.

This switch in vehicles is a pilot scheme over three years. As the procurement is publicly funded, Munro said that “we will, of course, be closely monitoring how they work but I believe this marks a significant step towards providing a greener and more efficient fleet for the future.”

Moreover, it seems that this scheme is part of a bigger plan for Surrey and Sussex Police: to meet “future policing needs”. Assistant Chief Constable Steve Barry said that “modernising policing is a key component of our 18-22 Transformation Plan, and this investment demonstrates our determination to push forward with substantial change, collaboration and technology-driven improvements.”