Electric police cars are 'running out' on way to rural emergencies

Electric police cars are ‘running out of puff’ on their way to countryside emergencies, police chief claims, as officers struggle to find rural charging points

  • Electric police cars are running out of juice before they can reach crime scenes
  • A police chief said that officers in rural areas often have to change vehicles
  • In the countryside there can be issues finding recharging facilities for the cars

Electric police cars in rural areas are leaving officers struggling to reach crime scenes when they ‘run out of puff’, according to one police chief.

Gloucestershire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Chris Nelson says that his police officers have difficulties reaching far flung emergencies in electric vehicles.

The force boasts the largest fleet of electric cars by percentage size, but when they run out of power officers struggle to locate charging points out in the sticks.

As a result officers are having to change vehicles without even reaching emergency sites, he claims.

Electric police cars are running out of charge before they are able to reach emergencies in the rural county of Gloucestershire (stock image)

Police officers struggle to find charging facilities for their electric vehicles in rural areas, causing them to have to change vehicles (stock image)

Responding to questions from County Councillor Steve Robinson, from Nailsworth, the commissioner accepted the future of the force was with electric vehicles.

Asked if he backed the move to electric vehicles, he explained: ‘We’ve all got to go towards electric vehicles moving forwards,

‘We have the largest fleet by percentage size, that has brought its problems.

‘The design options available for electric vehicles for operational uses are not perhaps as advanced as I would like them to be.

‘So, let’s put it like this, I’m cautious about going any further down that road at this stage.

‘I’d like to see more operational choice so that, for instance, if an officer is out in a rural area on a road traffic accident and his lights are on, his radio is on, his heater is on, I wouldn’t want him to run out of power for all of those different facilities, simply because he or she is in an electric car.

‘I’ve heard lots of problems with officers driving around in electric vehicles having problems trying to find recharging facilities.

‘Running out of puff and then having to get another vehicle.

‘So, although the world is going down that road and I fully understand and support climate controls and green areas, it’s definitely an important thing but my first priority is to fight crime.

‘And therefore, I have to take the operational effect into account.’

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