Julie Mortimer, director at Pick Everard, examines the problems surrounding infrastructure and energy management that must be tackled ahead of the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles
The transition to electric vehicles is discussed as the future of vehicle transport, with many advocating adoption. With the UK’s police forces, this may seem the case, but take a closer look and it becomes clear just how much further there is to go.
Last year, Auto Express carried out research into the number of electric vehicles and charging points UK police forces already have. This revealed that there were more than 430 electric vehicles in fleets, along with more than 800 chargers.
These numbers were not evenly spread among forces, with some constabularies having more than others, and some having none at all. Significantly, it marks only a tiny percentage of overall police vehicles, which total more than 30,000.
Realistically, this change cannot happen overnight. With a high majority of police vehicles still being petrol or diesel, police forces need a sound strategy to overcome the range of challenges on the road to electric.
Minimising operational risk through appropriate charging infrastructure
While it is imperative that electric vehicles deliver the operational needs of police and blue light services, the challenges are not just the vehicles themselves. There is no ‘plug and play’ solution without investment and improvement in the wider infrastructure to enable efficient transition to and management of electric fleets.
For example, it was revealed last year that one force had spent £20m on a fleet of electric cars but failed to install the necessary infrastructure to charge them. This led to the cars having to be left to charge overnight in public car parks, which in turn meant that charge points intended for public use were not available for that purpose.
Forces must include the installation of the right infrastructure to keep their fleets ready to go at all times, but this means that the related costs and practical rollout must be considered within any transition strategy. A recent Department for Transport report detailed connecting charge points for larger fleet depots as a process that currently could take around two years. With the average cost of a single commercial EV charge point being between £1,000 and £2,500 plus VAT, the total costs can run up very quickly.
Charging an EV fleet necessitates a new approach to vehicle management, especially for emergency response vehicles where reliability is of utmost importance. An effective strategy needs to allow for vehicle types, location of charging infrastructure, types, and number of vehicle charge units (such as standard, fast, or lightening), shift coordination, remote charging capability and new standard personnel practices that protect operational delivery.
Some forces are exploring alternative power sources, such as hydrogen power. However, being a more volatile substance and very expensive to make, it is unlikely that it is an energy supply ready to challenge electric fleets – especially with only a handful of hydrogen stations operational in the country.
Finite power supplies for the EV transition
As well as physical infrastructure challenges, we have the challenge of electrical supply capacity. If energy management is left un-managed, it can result in power demand in one area of the site negatively impacting the supply to another area.
Initially, we guide our clients in understanding their energy capacity ahead of any commitment to purchasing electric vehicles.
We look at the assets they have at their disposal already, where can they save, if they have the ability to generate anything themselves, and what storage they have access to. If none of these are viable, we then look at how much energy can they buy and where can they buy it? Only from there can they examine vehicle numbers effectively.
Energy demand to support electric vehicle charging is significant, with some new sites needing to almost double their supply from the grid to future proof future capacity. Availability of supply from UK Power Networks (UKPN) cannot be assumed, so early assessments and engagement are recommended.
Location is also a prime consideration when looking at power supply for a police force’s physical presence to be sustainable. In rural parts of the country where connectivity is not made equal, the overall cost of energy supply and management is sure to differ from city centres.
Indeed, these more rural police centres are those that should be implementing effective power storage within their estate management plans to ensure that, even should the worst happen, they can still serve the public. Plus, with the media increasingly talking about the risk of rolling blackouts for UK-wide energy management in the cost-of-living crisis this point is ever more relevant.
Supply may not yet reach demand in electric vehicle transition schemes
A final challenge is procuring the vehicles themselves. Supply is falling behind the high demand for new electric vehicles, and currently the delay from point of order to taking delivery of vehicles is anything from 6 months to 12 months.
Blue light services adopt a rolling programme of fleet replacement and delays in delivery of EVs may have a direct impact upon the ongoing cost of maintaining existing vehicles beyond their reasonable lifespan.
It is really encouraging that many of our blue light clients at Pick Everard are engaging proactively to enable successful transition strategies, which may include: electric vehicle strategies, estate rationalisation or carbon reduction building management plans. Adapting to a reduced carbon emission society requires investment and planning and we at Pick Everard are prepared and ready to support all our clients with estates and fleet challenges and help us all move towards a greener future.
