How emergency services are approaching fleet electrification

Electrifying emergency service fleets is a live operational challenge. Across two opening webinars in a new series in partnership with Cenex and Flexible Power Systems (FPS), sector leaders set out both the urgency of the transition and the practical realities of getting started.

The first session focused on where to begin, and the second broadened the focus to how organisations move from early adoption to scalable delivery, with insights from guest speakers who have direct experience of fleet electrification in their organisations.

Starting early and small

The opening webinar highlighted a key fact of electrification, that delay is the biggest risk. While the shift to zero-emission vehicles is already underway, many emergency service fleets remain at an early stage, particularly when it comes to operational or response vehicles.

As Carl Christie, Senior Fleet Consultant at Cenex, explained, the sector is moving from a position of limited choice to one where electric vehicles are increasingly viable across fleet types, but time pressure is growing.

That urgency is shaped by national targets and phase-out dates, but also by the more immediate concern of operational continuity. The transition is no longer just about sustainability, though that remains important, rather it is about ensuring fleets remain viable.

Yet the message from both Cenex and FPS was that getting started does not mean committing to full-scale transformation overnight.

“Making a start now, building some knowledge and learning, is a far better idea than getting further down the line and making very expensive decisions with no knowledge.”

Michael Ayres, Managing Director, FPS

Instead, organisations are being encouraged to take incremental steps like gathering data, trialling vehicles, and identifying opportunities where electrification can be introduced with minimal disruption.

Data drives decisions

One of the strongest themes from the first webinar was the shift towards data-led planning. Telematics, fleet systems and estate data are becoming central to building credible business cases and understanding real-world usage.

Glynn Richardson, Head of Transport and Logistics at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, and NFCC lead for fleet, explained that this has been a critical lesson from the fire sector’s experience.

“It’s a data-driven conversation. Decisions are better made when they’re evidence based.”

Glynn Richardson

But data alone is not enough. As speakers emphasised, it must be combined with operational insight. Understanding how vehicles are actually used, including dwell times, response patterns, and site constraints, is essential to avoiding costly missteps.

This is particularly important given the diversity of emergency service fleets. Fire services, for example, operate largely station-based vehicles with predictable usage patterns, while police fleets can cover significantly higher mileages with far less downtime.

Infrastructure is a real constraint

If vehicle availability was once seen as the main barrier, that perception is shifting. Across both webinars, infrastructure emerged as the defining challenge, specifically, access to power, grid capacity and site readiness.

The scale of this issue is considerable. Upgrading connections, installing charge points and planning resilient systems can take years and require significant capital investment. As Christie noted, electrification is not just a fleet upgrade but a “big organisational change”.

That complexity is compounded by the need for resilience. Emergency services must maintain operations under all conditions, raising difficult questions about backup power and energy security. Speakers pointed to a range of potential solutions, from battery storage to shared infrastructure, but acknowledged that, in the short term, some reliance on non-zero-emission backup systems may remain unavoidable.

Collaboration as a necessity, not a choice

A consistent message across both sessions was that no organisation can manage this transition alone.

The first webinar highlighted the value of shared learning across sectors, while the second reinforced how collaboration must extend internally as well as externally. Fleet, estates, procurement and operational teams all need to work together, which is something that has not always happened historically.

Ayres warned that without this alignment, organisations risk costly miscommunication:

“You can end up with infrastructure in the wrong places because different parts of the organisation aren’t talking to each other.”

Michael Ayres

Externally, there is growing recognition that collaboration between services, whether through shared charging infrastructure or pooled data, could reduce both cost and risk. However, while appetite for collaboration is strong, practical implementation remains at an early stage.

Reframing the conversation from sustainability to risk

While environmental goals remain important, they are no longer the primary driver in many discussions. Instead, the transition is increasingly understood in terms of operational, financial and strategic risk.

This reframing is helping to engage senior leaders, particularly where traditional sustainability arguments have struggled to gain traction. Ensuring that vehicles can respond, that infrastructure is reliable, and that costs are controlled over the long term is proving a more compelling case.

A transition defined by learning

Across both webinars, there was a notable consistency in how fleet leads and experts are approaching the transition to electric vehicles by being pragmatic and focused on learning.

Richardson captured this mindset clearly, reflecting on the fire sector’s journey so far:

“It’s a massive learning curve. Have a go at it, make those low-level mistakes, and learn as you go.”

Glynn Richardson

That willingness to experiment, supported by shared insight and collaboration, is likely to ultimately prove as important as any technological advancement. As the speakers, all with experience of fleet transformation, set out, electrification is far from a single decision or procurement exercise. It’s an ongoing transformation that will reshape how emergency services operate, plan and invest for decades to come.

As the series continues, the focus will shift towards more difficult-to-transition vehicles, and infrastructure sharing. Sign up here to be part of the conversation.

Cenex and FPS will be producing a set of outputs that will be launched at The Emergency Services Show at the NEC, Birmingham, in September. Register to attend and learn more from the series.

Catch up with the latest webinar below.