Police trialling EVs

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Batman

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#305776 2-Jun-2023 20:20

https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/132218344/fully-electric-bmw-i4-joins-nz-police-fleet-as-part-of-17m-trial

“This vehicle, the BMW i4, was selected for the trial because of its suitability most closely matching the police’s operational requirements. [This trial] is not to trial the BMW per say, it is to trial electric vehicles and see how they work in our operational setting,” said Coster.

The BMW i4 eDrive40 to be used by the police starts at $109,990. It uses a single electric motor on the rear axle to generate 250kW/430Nm, hitting 100kph in 5.7 seconds. Its 80.7kWh battery helps ensure a WLTP-rated range of 590km.

The Enyaq and i4 are unlikely to be the only vehicles considered for the role. Last December it was confirmed that the police were adding 34 fully electric Hyundai Ioniq 5s and Konas for ‘non-operational work’ at 15 centres around the country.

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#3084140 2-Jun-2023 21:38

Makes sense to me. Will be interested to see what the results show.

itxtme

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#3084142 2-Jun-2023 22:21

I thought it was particularly odd that they were used in highway patrol (at least the TV One news article tonight showed that). The place where electric cars are least efficient 🤷‍♂️

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#3084235 2-Jun-2023 22:48

itxtme:
I thought it was particularly odd that they were used in highway patrol (at least the TV One news article tonight showed that). The place where electric cars are least efficient 🤷‍♂️

Why would that be odd? It would make sense see how they perform under less ideal circumstances.

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#3084236 2-Jun-2023 23:00

If the cost too taxpayers prove that it is cheaper than going with ICE cars over the lifetime of use then I all for it. If not heads should roll.

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#3084242 2-Jun-2023 23:42

cruxis:

If the cost too taxpayers prove that it is cheaper than going with ICE cars over the lifetime of use then I all for it. If not heads should roll.

It's a trial, to "enable police to assess what is required to make a wider electric vehicle transition possible in future years".

The whole point of a small trial is to make learning's, while keeping the cost of failure relatively low. So, no heads should not roll regardless of the outcome.

The police press release sets out what should happen if the trial is unsuccessful:

https://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/police-green-lights-trial-new-front-line-electric-vehicle-ev

Funding is sourced as part of the State Sector Decarbonisation Fund, with collaboration with EECA, so not the police budget.

The sole focus on cost to tax-payers is a little flawed also:

Cars are relatively minor (but interesting part of policing). How it enables police to get their job done is likely more important than cost. Is somebody more or less likely to run from a 250kW BMW than the standard Skoda? Is range going to have an impact on the officers ability to deliver results?
As a country we need to decrease our emissions. This will come at a cost, but we have to do it due to the international accords entered into by various governments.
The Government implemented an ‘electric vehicles first’ policy for all government fleets. The police can't simply say no we don't want to even try... And the government fleet's should be the leader in this space.
A small scale trial should come ahead of wide adoption (even if it costs more), so that the learning from the trail is available when wide adoption is being considered. Otherwise we would either need to go into wide adoption with no trail, or delay wide adoption while the trail is being undertaken.

mattwnz

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#3084253 3-Jun-2023 01:34

They mentioned in the media that police cars are essnetially used 24 hours of the day, so they really get thrashed. Whereas this will need downtime while charging, and I do wonder how well the batteries will last with all that use.

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#3084256 3-Jun-2023 04:03

cruxis:
If the cost too taxpayers prove that it is cheaper than going with ICE cars over the lifetime of use then I all for it. If not heads should roll.

Heads should roll for running a trial? Righto.

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#3084262 3-Jun-2023 06:48

Trying to help mitigate the effects of climate change is why there is the move to the use of EVs - not about it being cheaper than ICE cars.

Climate change is already a major cost to taxpayers and these initiatives are trying to minimise this cost.

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#3084283 3-Jun-2023 08:54

cruxis:

If the cost too taxpayers prove that it is cheaper than going with ICE cars over the lifetime of use then I all for it. If not heads should roll.

i think tt has to be cheaper than ICE. no (little) maintenance, no petrol. though the higher purchase cost will need to be "caught up" by the 300,000kms which i think should be paid for in no time, assuming it doesn't get destroyed before the expected lifetime of public service.

the only question is whether the charging turnaround is going to allow crims to plan their activities around this

also the i4 is quite small on the inside vs the Limo like skoda superb ... will be interesting to know if they fit everyone that needs to be in the car!

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#3084287 3-Jun-2023 09:08

morrisk:

Trying to help mitigate the effects of climate change is why there is the move to the use of EVs - not about it being cheaper than ICE cars.

Climate change is already a major cost to taxpayers and these initiatives are trying to minimise this cost.

i don't think a few police cars no giving out CO2 will do anything to climate change with the rate of deforestation (turns CO2 into oxygen) that nobody talks about but who knows

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#3084289 3-Jun-2023 09:42

FAQ's in the press release I linked to above are worth a read.

www.police.govt.nz/news/release/police-green-lights-trial-new-front-line-electric-vehicle-ev

Of particular interest

How long does the car take to charge?

The chargers installed at Police stations will charge the vehicle in around 2 hours. If charged at a hyper-charger, this could be completed in as little as 30 minutes. Public charging powers vary a lot so it can be difficult to predict how long the charging time would be in different environments.

Why BMW?

A range of Electric Vehicles were reviewed and tested and the BMW i4 met more of the requirements for an operational vehicle with the NZ Police.

The selected vehicle has one of the highest kilometre ranges of any EV currently available in New Zealand. The operational Police environment places huge demands on operation vehicles in our fleet. The combined weight of equipment and people carried, along with urgent duty driving, places a higher-than-normal drain on a vehicle’s energy source.

The trial looks at how an EV contributes to our operational needs. If successful, we intend to approach the market formally for suitable EVs to transition into our operational fleet.

To achieve a two hour charge time on a 80kWh car, one would need a 50kW DC charger (can do 10% - 80% in 71mins) A 25kW DC charger would take over 3 hours to do a full charge.

A dedicated 50kW fast charger would be super useful, but is not cheap $50k in hardware alone, + it is likely the power supply to the site will need to be upgraded to support it.

The "Why BMW" gives some hints as to why BMW was chosen. Sounds like a long range was super-important, along with a high payload.

On interior space in the i4, the FAQ's note that these vehicles are planned to be operated by single officer crews, in highway patrol duty. I assume that single-officer cars do not transport arrested passengers, so the only public riding in this car will be people who have accepted the offer of a ride, and that the front passenger seat will also be available.

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#3084319 3-Jun-2023 10:31

An NMC battery in the i4 should be operated between 80 and 20%, particularly when frequently fast charged. The more often it is charged/used outside that range, the more quickly it will degrade. So the 80kWh battery in the Police i4s have a useable capacity of 48kWh if you keep it within that range. Even at a conservative economy rate of 180Wh/km that’s 267km.
I find it ironic that the superior (and cheaper) BMW patrol cars were rejected in preference for the Skodas because of the fear of the public perception of Police driving ‘elitist’ vehicles, when the Holden Commodore replacement was decided. Now it’s okay for Police to drive a Beamer. I guess the virtue signalling outweighs the social commentary.

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#3084331 3-Jun-2023 11:05

Yeah I was pretty sure they were going to go with the BMW option over the Skoda's sinch a few Aussie states had, but here we are.

I wonder if the trial will show that the 590km range of the i4 is overkill and that the range of something like a Model 3 would be more than adequate and allow them to buy two vehicles for the price of one i4.

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Batman

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#3084437 3-Jun-2023 16:32

Dingbatt:

An NMC battery in the i4 should be operated between 80 and 20%, particularly when frequently fast charged. The more often it is charged/used outside that range, the more quickly it will degrade. So the 80kWh battery in the Police i4s have a useable capacity of 48kWh if you keep it within that range. Even at a conservative economy rate of 180Wh/km that’s 267km.
I find it ironic that the superior (and cheaper) BMW patrol cars were rejected in preference for the Skodas because of the fear of the public perception of Police driving ‘elitist’ vehicles, when the Holden Commodore replacement was decided. Now it’s okay for Police to drive a Beamer. I guess the virtue signalling outweighs the social commentary.

Police are not buying a car to use 60% of the battery allowance.

They will you every single electron available I can guarantee you.

Perhaps battery degradation will be part of the trial.

News says they were very keen on the Skoda Enyaq but they want cars now so they bought the i4s. Maybe they should have bought Model 3 performance. Enyaq is too slow to even chase a Toyota.

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#3084438 3-Jun-2023 16:33

Obraik:

I wonder if the trial will show that the 590km range of the i4 is overkill and that the range of something like a Model 3 would be more than adequate and allow them to buy two vehicles for the price of one i4.

you think they will be successful chasing baddies in eco mode at 80kph and using regen at every corner?

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