The number of Electric vehicles in Kent Police fleet has raised from 18 to 30 by the end of last year to 831 vehicles in total.
The 30 electric vehicles consist of one van and twenty-nine 5 door hatchbacks.
Compare to the beginning of 2022 the number of small cars increased by 45%, which is 13 while medium cars decreased from 2 to 1, and the percentage change was 0% in 2023, due to the charging locations and availabilities.
Currently, electric vehicles are suitable for non-response tasks due to their lack of range or payload limitations, this is what Initial investment is focused on but for response tasks, such as those requiring speed and heavy equipment, electric vehicles face challenges due to reduced range.
While emerging technology aims to overcome these issues, no electric vehicles on the market meet operational requirements yet.
As an interim solution, Kent Police are prioritising hybrid technology, ensuring all new traffic and response vehicles have self-charging capability.
Kent Police say: “At present, electric vehicles are suitable for pool or non-response work as there are no range or payload (what the vehicle can carry) issues. This is where initial investment will be targeted. Vehicles used for response are more challenging as speed, equipment and weight reduces range. Emerging technology will help to address these issues but at present there are no electric vehicles on the market that meet operational requirements. As an interim, Kent Police are focusing on hybrid technology with all new traffic and response vehicles having the self-charging capability.”
Meanwhile, Kent County Council has facilitated the installation of 80 more charge point sockets to date compared to the beginning of last year, so 227 charging stations in total till today.
This includes for example, 36 sockets in Gravesham, 4 in Maidstone and 6 in canterbury.
However, total project eligibility amount steadily declining over the last few years via competitive application (ORCS) for fund historically.
In 2024, KCC expects to submit an application to the Office of Zero Emissions Vehicles for a 12m pounds capital Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund.
At the same time Medway Council have installed 34 charging points till today, which includes 20 charging points in Rochester multi storey car park, 10 charging points in Station Road Rainham car park and 4 charging points in Commercial Road, Strood car park.
They’ve received funding for the charge point infrastructure which was applied for through the Tranche 2 funding 2024/25 and is assigned to be £2.1m.
Which will be used for those 340 identified locations that are now at possibility stage to establish network capacity and cost.
The actual EV Charging Strategy will be finalised by spring 2024.
But all three institutions have mentioned about the advantages that EVs brought to the air and environment.