Gloucestershire's electric police cars ran out of power twice in three years

An FOI revealed Gloucestershire Constabulary recorded two instances of vehicles running out of power, one in 2019 and another in 2021

Electric police cars have run out of power just twice while on duty over the last three years, a freedom of information request has revealed.

The Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner raised concerns about the capability of the vehicles last month.

He said he heard "lots of stories" of police officers struggling to find recharging facilities in the county.

An FOI revealed the force recorded two instances of vehicles running out of power, one in 2019 and one in 2021.

Gloucestershire Constabulary has the largest full electric fleet in the UK, making up 21% of their 435 vehicles.

PCC Chris Nelson told the police and crime panel on 1 July that the vehicles "run out of puff".

The Local Democracy Reporting Service FOI request to Gloucestershire Constabulary revealed that neither instance recorded was an emergency situation.

The force added that the electric vehicles are not authorised to respond to emergency incidents.

The vehicles are used by officers, staff and volunteers to move within and outside the force area to complete enquiries or travel to other locations.

The previous PCC was keen to expand the force's e-fleet, but Chris Nelson said he would be cautious about going any further down that road

Cheltenham Borough Councillor Max Wilkinson called on the PCC to clarify his comments.

"At best, this is a case of a politician misspeaking or using inexact language," Mr Wilkinson said.

"At worst, it looks like an attempt to undermine the argument for switching away from petrol and diesel vehicles - a much-needed step in the battle against the climate crisis."

Mr Nelson said his comments were "undoubtedly misunderstood and in some places taken out of context".

He said he fully supports the battle against climate change and the national move towards greater use of electric vehicles. 

"As has been clarified subsequently, Gloucestershire Constabulary's range of electric vehicles are never used for emergency response but are used operationally on a daily basis for general enquiries. Perhaps that has been the cause for confusion," he said.  

"What cannot be disputed is a report in which the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) commends the environmental work of Gloucestershire OPCC and Constabulary, declaring that PCCs are 'at the heart of the decarbonisation agenda'."