Frustrations with DNO charging infrastructure hamper roll out of EVs for policing in Scotland

The journey to net zero occupies all emergency services as they seek to decarbonise their operations and much of that is down to fleet changes. Police Scotland is no different and Billy Andrew, who leads the Fleet EV programme north of the border shares how it’s working and the barriers that are frustrating this force’s ambitions.

Police Scotland has 800 battery electric cars and 250 hybrids in its fleet. Five years ago, when the force published its fleet strategy, the overall fleet comprised 3500 vehicles with just one per cent green vehicles. The goal is to be the first emergency service to have an ultra-low emission vehicle fleet.

The force has bought three different types of EVs: the Hyundai Kona, the Kia Niro, and the Peugeot 208E. “They are quick and easier to drive, automatic cars, that keep our staff happy.” Billy adds that the cars are used like offices and there is a lot more to be done to take advantage of the electrical systems in the car to give officers access to more police systems.

“The cops love the EVs. They are generally much nicer to drive. Most of the vehicles are unmarked and are used by CID for investigation work; they don’t have blue lights or respond to incidents.”

The force is starting the process of rolling out its first marked general purpose response vehicles. After extensive testing, Billy says the VW ID4 has been deemed to be the most suitable vehicle. The force’s Driver Training department have been evaluating these with students over the last 12 months.

“Some EVs have great performance in terms of acceleration but the top speed tends to be limited to 100 mph and that’s not quick enough for people working in fast response roles. We’re not particularly concerned about response cars right now. As the market matures, I’ve no doubt that the right vehicles will come along.”

Getting an extra £10m from the Scottish Government back in 2021 certainly helped boost Police Scotland’s green fleet ambitions but this force has just learned that the fleet budget for April onwards is down £4m on last year’s. Billy is sanguine about this, recognising that the overall force budget has gone down too. What he is more worried about is the funding for charging infrastructure and that’s not even in his gift:  it’s in the hands of the Force Executive.

Police officers can use the public charging infrastructure and in Scotland (UK) that includes Charge Place Scotland and BP Pulse chargers. Billy says he is always looking for more charging providers to add to the list and recently he has been in discussion with the suppliers of EV charging facilities at Scotland’s ports. The requirement for all of them is that officers can use the same charging card – it’s all part of reducing the friction for adopting EVs, making it easy to charge them.

But this isn’t enough. Police Scotland needs to have more charging infrastructure on its own estate to be sure of supply and access.

“The main issue we have is when we have to increase sub-station capacity.”

To put in new charging infrastructure often requires a new electricity substation and that involves dealing with the DNO – the distribution network operator. In Scotland there are two DNOs, Scottish Power and Scottish Southern Energy.

“It’s extremely challenging,” says Billy. He explains that to get a new substation built, and this is managed by Police Scotland’s Estates team, there is a detailed process that involves leasing and planning for the power supply and the building to house it. He says that as part of this process the value of the land comes into consideration thinking about its future sale. And it’s slow.

“The problem is the DNOs don’t have the resources – the civil engineers, the electrical engineers – to do the job. The demand for these skills and the services to implement charging infrastructure exceed supply.”

There’s not much that Billy can do about the supply of skilled engineers for power companies and he’s pragmatic about this despite the immense frustration he feels at how it is blocking the force’s ambitions to get more private charging facilities at police stations across Scotland.

Having talked about vehicle supply and charging, the third element is maintenance. Billy says that there are nine Police Scotland workshops across the country as well as many smaller outsourced providers giving coverage in remote locations. Force technicians – around 60 – have been through IMI accredited training to maintain the EV fleet.

Police Scotland (and when there was eight legacy force areas) has had some form of EV since 2011 and has learned a lot about how to maintain them. The approach is changing now with the introduction of mobile working, meaning that technicians can go out to the EV and carry out maintenance rather than requiring the officer to visit a workshop. The force has already trialed this with non-EV cars so expanding to the EV fleet is a natural progression. Billy says this will save a vast amount of officer time which can be used more productively elsewhere.

For more insight into how electric vehicles are being introduced across the blue lights, see the Emergency Services Times webinar Electric vehicles and the emergency services: a three part problem and the short video from The Emergency Services Show, In Conversation: Electric Vehicles.