Fleet Managers are under increasing social and political pressures to constantly evaluate and operate the latest developments in green vehicle technology. An even more challenging prospect is achieving this with a fleet of emergency services vehicles operating 24-hours a day / 365-days a year with an added expectation to lead by example as a Government fleet with the greenest solutions available.
Like all current budgets, fleet budgets are under austerity pressures. Additional funds are being made available by local senior management / political leaders, however, for revolutionary green fleet thinking.
Within the general fleet industry, electrically propelled vehicles have become an established fleet solution. However, for an emergency service, electrically only powered vehicles are less suitable due to a basic need to provide an unquantifiable number of 999 responses per vehicle per day. Officers may well be subject to range anxiety through uncertainty of whether they can complete their shift.
So would an electric vehicle with a range extending capability be the logical solution?
The BMW Group has quietly been working to evaluate a proof of concept that an electric vehicle with a range extending capability can bridge the gap between an operational and environmental need. A longer-term fully operational evaluation has been running over the last six-months with a large UK police authority. On a shorter term basis, i3 AC REx vehicles have been evaluated by a number of other police and fire and rescue services in the UK, in addition to major cities around the world.
The BMW i3 AC REx is a police specification vehicle with its primary propulsion being electric, with a unique ability to generate its own electricity while being driven. A BMW 649cc petrol motorcycle engine is discretely mounted under the boot floor working as an electricity generator (13g/km of CO2). With a fuel card this vehicle can be driven from the top of Scotland to the tip of Cornwall. A Hybrid is a vehicle with its main propulsion being generated by a petrol or diesel engine with a much smaller electrically driven range.
Fully operational evaluation demonstration vehicles are available to police, fire and rescue plus NHS ambulance services.
Does your service have a need to reduce the fleet NOx and CO2 emissions and need a realistic and practical solution? Then please call for further information on the BMW i3 AC REx model by contacting Andrew Buxton at the BMW Group – Government & Authorities Division on 020 7514 9472.
