Will police soon be driving around in these electric cars?
Electric car police
“Part of the procurement base police vehicles will be electric,” said Irene Meulenkamp, products and services manager for Vehicles & Vessels. “Electric cars have already been tested in a number of units. Police choose electric driving to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The part that still has a fossil combustion engine will become gasoline or mild-hybrid. To reduce the risk of delivery problems, we choose to contract two brands for passenger vehicles. For electric passenger vans, the market is not yet developed far enough, so those will be diesels. We do keep the option open for electric vans.”
Electric car tender process police
The procurement process for the (also electric) basic police vehicles is as follows.
- Assignment announcement: Nov. 30, 2022
- Registration deadline: March 24, 2023
- Assessment: written and user testing: April/May 2023
- Award decision: May 2023
- Order, deliver and build Proof of Concept vehicles: June 2023 to April 2024
- User period Proof of Concept vehicles: May to August 2024
- Start agreements: Jan. 1 2025
Two brands are chosen
So the new vehicles will be included in the fleet from Jan. 1, 2025. First, a tender process will follow and the police will make a ranking of the offered vehicles based on the award criteria. Currently, the police have as collaborations ongoing with Toyota, Volkswagen, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. So you would argue that these brands are also the biggest contenders. But this is not a given. There are many other brands in the race. And you just read it: the police will contract two brands for passenger vehicles to reduce the risk of supply problems.
Have the choices already been made?
Behind the scenes, of course, the police are already busy making choices, but they are not being made public. Anyone who looks at the market with common sense can also determine which EVs stand a chance and which ones drop out immediately.
Various requirements
An electric car must meet several requirements, according to the police. They must be practical, affordable, spacious enough to carry people in the back seat, have decent luggage space, be fast enough, have a generous range, be able to fast charge (3-phase a must) and drive a good distance on a full charge of electricity. Oh well, the eye wants something too. So it should not be a silly EV, because when you see a police EV, you should also think that you would quite like to drive in it. In fact, the police are always looking for personnel.
Damage
You must also consider factors that are less obvious. Police cars often sustain damage. Through chases, for example, or unexpected situations on the road. So a decent service network with good parts availability is incredibly important. Then you automatically already end up with brands that have things right.
Is there anything left?
With all these requirements, what does that leave in the EV landscape? At least EVs similar in shape to the current Mercedes-Benz B-Class and Volkswagen Touran. After all, easy entry is a must. In this article, we highlight several EVs that we think are perfectly suited as police EVs. We also briefly list the pluses for each electric car.
Toyota bZ4X
+ Increased ride height
+ Solid range
+ Excellent service network
+ Spacious wheelbase
+ Agile handling
Tesla Model Y
+ Excellent range
+ Topinfotainment
+ Space in the back
+ Fantastic Supercharger network throughout the Netherlands for fast charging
+ Super fast
+ Great frunk!
Kia EV6
+ Generous wheelbase
+ Extensive range of powertrains
+ Good infotainment
+ Quick charging capability
+ Decent range
+ Excellent service network
+ Vehicle 2 Load
Hyundai IONIQ5
+ Generous wheelbase
+ Extensive range of powertrains
+ Good infotainment
+ Quick charging capability
+ Decent range
+ Vehicle 2 Load
Skoda Enyaq iV
+ Generous wheelbase
+ Extensive range of powertrains
+ Good infotainment
+ Quick charging capability
+ Decent range
+ Excellent service network
+ Super practical
Electric car police: EVs from unexpected quarters?
Above is just a sample of five possible contenders of electric cars for the police. Of course, there are many other possibilities. Think of a Hyundai Kona Electric, the Kia e-Niro. Or will the police go for a Volkswagen ID.4? Perhaps the choice will fall on an EV from a very unexpected place. In any case, the EV must be affordable, look robust and, of course, be very practical.
What about gasoline and mild-hybrid cars?
And what gasoline or mild-hybrid cars will the police then put into service starting in 2025? That could really be an awful lot of cars. Maybe another B-Class, or a BMW 2 Series Active Tourer. Or will the police opt for a Toyota Corolla Cross? Time will tell.
The current police cars
Mercedes-Benz B-Class 220D , 177HP diesel engine
- Acceleration (0-100 km/h): 8.6 seconds
- Top speed (km/h): 224 km/h
Mercedes-Benz Vito 116 CDI Tourer long, automatic, 163HP diesel engine
- Acceleration (0-100 km/h): 11.30 seconds
- Top speed: 170 km/h
Audi, A6 Avant 3.0 TDI S-tronic Quattro
- 286 hp diesel engine
- Acceleration (0-100 km/h): 5.6 seconds
- Top speed (km/h): 250 km/h
Photos were realized by AutoRAI.nl itself.