The worst of all worlds - Police to use BMW i4s

[Lozza12]

According to Stuff the BMW i4 is under consideration for use as a patrol car - Fully electric BMW i4 joins NZ Police fleet as part of $1.7m trial

This is the worst of all worlds - excessive purchase cost, bad PR for EVs, and marginal operational performance. The 80.7kWh battery supposedly takes the car 590km, but 136Wh/km for this overweight beaver is clearly rubbish. 5.8s is not even that great with 250kW of power.

The police spokesperson said it was not a trial of the BMW, but I think only a fool would accept that comment on face value. Their mind is made up and this EECA funded trial is to convince their drivers.

There are so many examples of overseas jurisdictions using better value EVs and PHEVs for police work. Using high end BMWs (and Audi e-trons) in government is unnecessary and wasteful. As a Tesla and BMW EV owner I can vouch that servicing the Bimmer is more expensive, and I suspect the panel damage repair costs on an i4 would be horrendous!

Using the i4 will create negative public perception of BEV adoption at a time when public services are under huge funding pressure. I’m a huge BEV advocate, but right now I would support an interim move to PHEVs for patrol car work, which work better in both urban and rural environments and can rely on better existing refuelling infrastructure.

Frankly I think this is the worst kind of capture of public officials by sleazy car salesmen. As a procurement manager & fleet manager I would love to see the whole of life cost calculation - not just BEV vs ICE, but what other BEVs were actually evaluated before selecting the ugly Bavarian. If this was a proper pilot and not a foregone conclusion, these other BEVs would be tested alongside the i4.

 

[Crispysmooth]

I face palmed so hard when I read that annoucement as well. You would think the NZ market would be perfect for either M3/MY LR - And yes I know they are not available publicly in NZ but with a big enough order anything can happen.

 

[m3lol]

Hey guys, i’m actually involved in this work and as a long time EV owner and early Model 3 owner i can say i was sceptical until i learned more.

There is a lot more to operational requirements than just outright performance (speed) or range.

I obviously can’t divulge details but there is quite a robust and demanding testing regime that a lot of good cars just fail on.

If you read the press release and the article it sets out clearly that this project started more than 12 months ago and only vehicles made available by manufacturers at the time were put forward for testing and evaluation. Also, to reiterate the purpose is to test an EV in the operational setting, in this instance the i4 was the most suitable platform and the lessons learned from this trial will help inform future requirements for how the Police will transition to a lower emissions fleet.

Hope that helps.

 

[meloccom]

I wouldn’t stress about it too much, the Australian Commonwealth Car fleet is full of BMW SUVs ever since the last federal government killed off Holden; and the NSW Highway Patrol runs lots BMW 5 Series.

 

[Matt_NZ]

I'm assuming they went with the BMW option because a few Aussie states use BMW highway patrol vehicles, which makes it easier to find someone close to home that is familiar with fitting out a BMW for police use.

I'm wondering if this trial will find that the 590km of range in the i4 well exceeds how much range that they actually need and that they could instead getting something like a base Model 3, which would allow them to buy two cars for the price of one i4

 

[NZGUY]

...instead getting something like a base Model 3, which would allow them to buy two cars for the price of one i4

That's assuming they're paying market prices for the BMW.

 

[Audietron]

I believe for police it's purpose built cars with many criteria to meet... one of them could be not recently breached.

Many other could be like body strength, suitability to put various guard rails, modifications, interior changes to make separate cabins, safeguards to avoid remote takeover... if we totally discount the final finish of cars.

Tesla Model S or X might meet some of the requirements, more of model S... but that would overshoot the price, and still have many limitations.

Tesla becoming Taxi fleet also doesn't help... as Police cars need to stand out from crowd... not mistaken as cab or private cars.

Again, most of us commenting here are anything more than Tesla vehicle owners... so someone with police background, and internal knowledge would better understand the justification and reasonable explanation behind choosing specific make and model for police work.

 

[Matt_NZ]

I believe for police it's purpose built cars with many criteria to meet... one of them could be not recently breached.

Many other could be like body strength, suitability to put various guard rails, modifications, interior changes to make separate cabins, safeguards to avoid remote takeover... if we totally discount the final finish of cars.

Tesla Model S or X might meet some of the requirements, more of model S... but that would overshoot the price, and still have many limitations.

Tesla becoming Taxi fleet also doesn't help... as Police cars need to stand out from crowd... not mistaken as cab or private cars.

Again, most of us commenting here are anything more than Tesla vehicle owners... so someone with police background, and internal knowledge would better understand the justification and reasonable explanation behind choosing specific make and model for police work.

They don't get purpose built cars...they buy cars at wholesale and then have them fitted out post-build.

There were probably just as many Holden Commodore Taxis as there were Commodore Police vehicles lol. There are also many police forces internationally that have started putting Model 3 and Y in their fleet.