by Guy Page
Like other departments in city government, the Montpelier Police Department is reducing its carbon footprint. But MPD isn’t going EV just yet – they cost too much and are impractical as police cruisers for several reasons.
The following question appears on the Frequently Asked Questions page of the MPD website: Why does MPD use larger gas and gas/electric hybrid vehicles instead of electric vehicles?
The answer is published verbatim below.
While we are excited by the prospect of electric vehicles lowering the carbon footprint of police work, there are many limitations that current electric vehicle options will have to overcome to make them a viable alternative.
The greatest challenges are budgetary, as electric vehicles are across the board more expensive than their gas counterparts. The Ford hybrid cruisers we’ve been transitioning to are several thousand dollars more than gas SUVs and pickup trucks and still quite a bit cheaper than many base model electric sedans or SUVs. We understand savings in fuel and maintenance costs could mitigate some of this.
Another issue is capacity and interior space. Upfitting a police vehicle adds several hundred pounds of equipment in the form of warning lights, protective barriers between front and rear seats, cruiser camera equipment, radios, and all the accompanying black boxes to power this equipment that are currently installed in the generous cargo areas of our Explorers. The weight of this installed equipment, plus the hundreds of pounds of other equipment that is in each of our cars (road flares and cones, ballistic shield, less lethal tools, evidence collection kits, protective helmets and vests, etc.) not to mention their bulk, limit the interior space of the car as well as will diminish the range, especially in the winter.
Few police equipment manufacturers make products for electric vehicle models, which presents another challenge, as much of it is necessary for the safety of officers and community members we interact with. The Explorers are the first cruisers MPD has ever had that accommodates all of this equipment, plus are comfortable for our larger officers and are safe and comfortable for someone in custody who is placed in the rear seat.
There is significant liability in transporting someone who is in custody and having a vehicle, like the Ford Explorer, where the rear doors are designed to open to 90 degrees and have adequate spacing between the seats and barrier for even the largest or most out of control person to be placed inside safely and comfortably is essential. Once someone is in custody, we may have to transport them to one of the correctional facilities in South Burlington or St. Johnsbury, which again brings the issue of range, comfort, and liability into play. In addition, MPD has multiple equipment trailers for storing and transporting a variety of essential equipment, vehicle barriers and traffic control devices, and all-terrain rescue vehicle that may need to be deployed at a moments notice. This necessitates having vehicles in our fleet with sufficient towing capacity as well.
Speaking of range, police work is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, in all seasons and weather conditions. This means many of our vehicles are being driven constantly throughout a 24-hour period, which would mean opportunities to charge the vehicle’s battery would often be limited.
The current limitations of Level 1 and Level 2 chargers would make achieving an adequate charge for the length of a 10-hour shift or a trip to St. Johnsbury difficult. Level 3 Tesla Superchargers and DC Fast Chargers are more effective, but this again leads to upfront costs as Level 3 infrastructure would be necessary. Even the installation of multiple lower-level chargers will require significant infrastructure work and upfront costs.
And again, with the car’s battery powering radios, lights, and other equipment, what will the range of these vehicles actually be? We could, of course, change our practices drastically and simply drive less. Random and directed vehicle patrols have been the backbone of police work for decades though there has been a movement towards increased foot and bike patrols. These alternative patrol methods depend on things like staffing levels, weather, call volume, call type, and other factors that are often outside the control of officers, which is why we tend to drive vehicles that can be instantly refueled, can carry any and all equipment that might possibly by needed, can comfortably accommodate officers and secured passengers for extended periods of time, and are capable in all weather conditions.
This conversation remains ongoing as we balance the operational needs of police work with longer term goals such as net zero emissions. We are listening and are trying to find compromises, such as with our recent acquisition of hybrid cruisers, which eliminates much of the idling and gas usage at low speeds. Technology in this area is improving rapidly and it is likely that electric vehicles that meet the criteria for regular use by police departments are on the horizon.
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Categories: Local government
Police vehicles often need to be idled for long periods to maintain lighting and other equipment whether the officer is inside or outside the vehicle. As mentioned, there is very little downtime during a shift for charging. The rigors of use for a police vehicle just can’t be handled by the current battery technology. Some of Montpelier’s moonbat citizens are just going to have to accept this and hopefully wont lose too much sleep over it.
I hope the moon bats lose a lot of sleep. It is a fact the lack of sleep shortens one lifespan.
No one ever accused those moon bats of being bright enough to work through the problem of emergency vehicle means available now, not a few hours after the vehicle is charged and ready to go. The police would have to buy cruisers in pairs, one working the streets and one on the charger. They also didn’t mention the weight of the battery or the limited range. I personally hope this is keeping the moon bats up all night and keeping their minds off all the other creepy ideas they came up with! I’m also glad that the police haven’t gone completely Woke and aren’t making decisions of safety based on how the moon bats feel.
It’s illegal to let your car idle past 15 minutes but police do it all the time.
Electric cars are just plain stupid for Vermont in general, and for emergency vehicles in particular. They’re much more suited to temperate cities, but probably still impractical for police, fire and ambulance use. Unless you don’t mind waiting a few hours for a recharge.
Same here. Too impractical and too costly.
Very well-reasoned explanation. And you know how the Left hates facts!!!
“And you know how the Left hates facts!!!” Yup ! I can see the smoke coming out of the ears of the Mount Peculiar city council members !
Sounds about like the problems that I have with going electric . There aren’t many (any) chargers of any level on the “Tin Shack” road in Lewis, or Lyne Brook road in Victory, so getting there and back from Central Vt. is kinda problematic . If I’m out and about and come accross a brook crossing or have to back my boat way out on an unimproved launch like the one at Caspian where the water might be two feet deep, or a little more, am I going to fry my vehicle ??? What then ?
Sure! Let’s keep the conversation going. Just don’t tell all the supporters it will likely take diesel to keep them going just like the buses….. Not to mention that AI and all our gadgets are requiring more and more electricity by the day.
C’mon man! Somebody’s gotta be the 1st to burn their town’s cash! China’s battery factories (using coal power) need the money, and Congolese slave drivers need to work their mines too. Whatever happened to Bernie’s futuristic “Hydrogen Economy” that was “right around the corner” some 20-30 years ago? Fuel cells make more sense and emit only water vapor. How about “Zero Point Energy” conspiracy theorists claim have been hidden since the death of Nikolai Tesla? The FBI sent an MIT professor to peruse Tesla’s papers in NYC when he died, anyone know his name? It was John Trump, Donald was named after him, look it up!
Now we just need the politicians to wake up and realize it’s more of a problem than an answer
Thank you, MPD for sparing the taxpayers!
I say go for it. Hold all the calls for dayshift so the cars can be charged the other16 hours. If you’re going to be involved in a vehicle crash or crime of violence, schedule it between 8 and 4, otherwise you will have to wait until an officer comes on duty. Once they get to the scene officer will bring a unicorn and some pixie dust to make things better. See how simple that is.
Wow, people are waking up to the impractical use of EVs, follow the agenda, and it will get you killed for no response because our cars are being charged !!
We have fools in charge, and you let it happen.
That is why we must get reasonable, conservative folks to run for select boards, city counsels and the state legislature.
In other words EVs are a stupid idea
have you flown in an electric airplane//// how is that working out////