Police forces across the UK are downsizing their fleet of patrol cars and equipment under a new programme designed to save on carbon and cash.
High-performance motors are currently being phased out to be replaced with diesel-only models, and small Hyundais and economy-priced Vauxhalls and Fords are to be used as patrol cars.
Even the blue flashing emergency lights are being replaced with high-tech, low-energy LED strobe lights to conserve a third of the power use and extend the life of engine batteries.
And traffic officers have been ordered to turn off their engines at incidents and road-stops to save further on fuel.
A new four-year procurement scheme signed in October has come into effect, which means police forces must now downgrade their low-performance patrol car fleets to diesel-only Vauxhall Corsas, Ford Fiestas and Hyundai i30 and i20s.
And all police cars that come to the end of their working life or have been written off in collisions are being stripped down and their non-safety related parts recycled.
With 48,000 cars patrolling the nation's streets, the Police are the UK's number one consumer of fuel – ahead of the Ministry of Defence, the Post Office and the ambulance service.
Richard Flint, chairman of the National Association of Police Fleet Managers and head of transport at North Yorkshire Police, said the new changes have already generated a 50 percent reduction in day-to-day fuel costs.
He added: “We have just embarked on a national strategy to save on carbon and save money. There are new CO2 caps on all new vehicles in police force fleets and all marked cars must be diesel fuelled.
“This is primarily being driven by current austerity measures to lower costs by saving on fuel, maintenance and the whole-life cost of these vehicles, but it will also reduce our impact on the environment.
“The results in a very short space of time are very encouraging, we are saving as much as 50 percent on the cost of day-to-day fuelling. Previously, police vehicles were probably achieving around 20 miles to the gallon, now we have extended that to an average of 30 miles to the gallon.
“Police forces are now choosing much lower-sized engine models so whereas before a standard patrol car may have been powered by a 1.6 litre petrol engine, we are now buying 1.3 litre diesel models.
“In hire car terms, it is the equivalent of downsizing from standard class to economy.”
Richard also stated that electric vehicles will not be added to police fleets for at least the next four years.
“Electric vehicles may make sense for the environment, but they certainly do not make economic sense at this time,” he explained.
“The technology just is not there for electric engines to be used in response vehicles and the whole-life cost of the models is too prohibitive for them to be used as ordinary patrol cars.”
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