Electric cars are a hit with the police

• Mar. 3 by Manish Patel (1)

Three months on from its launch, the Mitsubishi MiEV is proving to be popular with the West Midlands Police force.

The MiEV took to the streets of Walsall in December last year under a new scheme created by the Government.

It features the West Midlands Police logo and is estimated to be worth £30,000.

Sergeant Kelvin Rowlands who is from the Walsall Community Safety team, said that the car has more advantages than disadvantages.

Different Avenues

“Since the car is silent, this enables us to have a silent approach to how we go about doing things.

The car is used by a different number of officers and it gives us an opportunity to explore avenues away from diesel vehicles.”

Advantages

Kelvin said that the car had many benefits:

“It produces zero emissions and is very economical. For £115 pounds of electric, you can have 12,000 miles from the vehicle.

It is an urban vehicle and it has good acceleration.

The only negative is the distance you can cover. It has a range of 80-100 miles but once it has reached its distance, it will need charging.”

He also added that the Mitsubishi MiEV is a sign of things to come.

Advancements and Taxation

“Five years ago, we didn’t think we would be using diesels. Car manufacturers are now piling out the technology of tomorrow today.

Citroen have announced that they will be releasing the CO later this year and that Jaguar are currently experimenting with an electric car.

Peugeot in 1993 released a Pilot vehicle and they were ahead of the game. The range however was limited to 40-50 miles.

Since 1993, technology has advanced hugely.”

Kelvin also pointed out that car tax may be one reason why people may consider purchasing an electric car.

“Taxation of an electric car is tax free and the majority of people are now thinking about how much their car tax is.”