UK police take delivery of electric Kia EV6, but not everyone is happy

Police in the UK have taken delivery of a Kia EV6, but some aren’t happy with the transition to electric.

Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi showed off the Kia EV6 on Twitter, which will be the second electric vehicle (EV) in the British Transport Police’s fleet after it acquired a Tesla Model 3 earlier this month.

However, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire, Chris Nelson, told a panel recently he had received stories of officers dealing with EVs going flat while on duty.

“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,” Nelson told a crime and policing panel, according to Stroud News & Journal.

“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.”

Gloucestershire Constabulary reportedly operates the largest fleet of electric police cars in the UK, with more than 20 per cent of its 435 vehicles using battery power.

“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,” Nelson said.

“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.”