LONDON’S MET POLICE

LONDON’S Metropolitan Police runs 19 Mirais, which are used as marked and unmarked response cars, and as nonresponse general cars. These Toyotas are “allocated to areas of London near to existing hydrogen refuelling sites”. The Met’s marked Mirai response cars are used the most, covering only 8.6 per cent fewer miles than petrol and diesel marked response cars.

Police EVs

In addition, the Met runs a fleet of 50 Nissan e-NV200 electric vans, which it uses to transport equipment, and 41 Nissan Leafs, which it uses as non-response cars. On average, these are driven 53.53 per cent less than equivalent petrol and diesel vehicles.

Meanwhile, the Met covers an average of 3,707 miles a year in each of its Leafs, compared with 10,220 miles a year in an equivalent petrol or diesel car. This means Leafs are used 63.75 per cent less than equivalent police cars with an internal-combustion engine.

The Met’s e-NV200 electric vans each average 2,501 miles annually. The force said the average mileage for diesel vans in this role would be 3,139 miles a year, meaning the e-NV200s are used 20.31 per cent less than conventional vans.

Electric scooters

The Met also runs 11 electric BMW C Evolution scooters (below). These each cover 3,739 miles a year – a virtually identical number of miles covered by equivalent petrol scooters, at 3,763 miles.

The Met reported that it had no issues using its EVs, and told us it’s been “actively exploring ways to hybridise and electrify our fleet” since 2015. Its Mirais are used “to support policing in London and are helping to support the Mayor of London’s clean air strategy”.