Which Bright Spark Thought This Was A Good Idea?

Last updated on May 8th, 2023 at 11:41 am

Reading Time: 2 minutes

I am grateful to my friend Dan for bringing this nugget to my attention.

Somebody in South Yorkshire Police thought it would be a good idea to buy 10 Electric cars set to help police fight crime in South Yorkshire.

Are they worth it?

I’ll begin by admitting that I have no idea how much South Yorks Police have paid for them, or whether they’re on a lease, but cheap they ain’t.  Offers abound, but Autocar quoted the price as £29,000 (dependent on trim level).  So we’re possibly talking about an outlay of £290,000 or thereabouts.

What are they going to be used for?  Well SYP claim that they will be used to carry out inquiries and for officers to visit victims of crime and take statements. They will not be used to respond to emergencies or in pursuits.

I’m not going to bore you with the technology but these cars have some clever electronics backed up with a 1.4 petrol engine.  Forget Vauxhall’s claims cause they relate to the discredited rolling road consumption tests, Autocar found that the range on electric power was about 33 miles. So, two trips to the pub then.  They also found that the petrol engine returned a meagre average of about 45 mpg, PLUS it costs about £1 every time you recharge the batteries by plugging it in somewhere.

SYP anticipate saving about £25,000 over the lifetime of these 10 vehicles.

Personally I don’t see it, you’re spending possibly £29,000 to save £2,500 per vehicle (not guaranteed), is it worth it?  The technology is new and provides more scope for the vehicles being off the road.

Wouldn’t it have been better to have bought a few trusty oil burners (quite ‘clean’ these days) and spent a bit more on some new Response Cars, I have seen and heard tell, of some shockingly high mileage on Response Cars across the country (not necessarily SYP though, but maybe). Modern small diesels are capable of returning much better consumption than 45 mpg.

Maybe, once they’ve been fitted with the optional extra After Sales Kebab Wrappers they will prove to be a much better investment than I think they are, but what do I know?

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