Dutch police choose electric car

Abort pursuit?

You have already read an article on this website recently in which a Golf GTI driver flees from the police. The police then set off in pursuit. With an electric car, police would not be able to do this for as long because of the range. So logically, the police will not exchange all vehicles for ones with electric powertrains. Vehicles that keep the combustion engine are fitted with a hybrid system.

Buses not yet electric

Police believe the switch to electric vans is too early because the technology is not yet sufficiently developed. So the police buses will continue to run on diesel for the time being. The new electric cars will come by tender. To avoid supply problems, the police will work with two different suppliers. The various manufacturers have until March 25, 2023 to apply for the procurement process. It will be some time before the first electric police cars appear on the road, as the first ones are scheduled to be delivered in January 2025.

Current fleet

Currently, the police in the Netherlands drive three types of vehicles: the police car, the police bus and the rapid intervention vehicle. The most common police car is the Mercedes-Benz B-Class. This very B-Class is being replaced by a (partially) electric car. The police van is a Mercedes-Benz Vito, with a four-cylinder diesel engine. For high-speed car chases, police use an Audi A6. This is also a diesel with a 3.0-liter engine block. It sprints from zero to one hundred in 5.6 seconds and reaches 250 mph. Whether the police are also replacing this car is not yet known. Of course, it would not be convenient if the police had to drop out during a pursuit because the car’s battery was dead.

Procurement process

The police procurement process has several steps, below is an overview of the schedule for each phase in the European tender for basic fossil fuel police vehicles. The European tender for emission-free passenger vehicles for basic policing, is expected to be published in mid-2023.