Kolkata Police to add 226 electric vehicles into its fleet 

The Kolkata Police has announced that it is going to add 226 electric vehicles into its fleet in order to counter rising diesel prices and to escalate the maintenance costs of diesel-powered vehicles.

The adoption of electric vehicles will help to phase out 200 diesel-powered vehicles that are around 15 years old. The EVs will be taken on lease for eight years and will be divided into traffic, wireless and other units. The traffic police will at least get 78 vehicles. At present, the Kolkata Police has 4,000 vehicles that are regularly hired for special law and order duties.

In this regard, a budget of Rs 8.8 crores has been allocated and the government agency has also been induced for completing the tendering and procuring process of the e-vehicles. Along with this, it has appointed an additional CP has been appointed to coordinate with various agencies to see that the vehicles arrived quickly.

When we are talking about Kolkata Police adding electric vehicles which means the charging infrastructure will also be needed. For that, it will be setting up nine quick charging points across nine police divisions in the city.

An officer said that the EVs consumes very little electricity to charge about 90 paise to Re 1 per kilometre whereas if we look at the cost of the diesel or petrol vehicle is around Rs 8.5 per kilometre which is very expensive to more than 7 times. The maintenance cost is also very high for an ICE vehicle which ranges from between Rs 50,000 and Rs 60,000 on a monthly basis. He also claimed that using electric vehicles the Kolkata police expects to save Rs 40 crore in the next eight years.

This initiative by the Kolkata police is not the one, there are many governments and private departments that are adding electric vehicles to their fleets.

Ap to provide 25,000 electric 2Ws for state govt employees

In July 2021, The Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) an Indian government company that comes under the Ministry of Power has signed an agreement with the New & Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP) to provide 25,000 electric two-wheelers in Andhra Pradesh (AP).

Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari made it mandatory to use EVs

In February 2021, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has made a case for making it mandatory to use electric vehicles for all officials in government ministries and departments. Gadkari suggested that the use of electric vehicles should be made mandatory for all government officials.

He, further, urged Power Minister R K Singh to make it mandatory to use electric vehicles for officials in his department saying he will do so for his departments. He said that the use of 10,000 electric vehicles in Delhi can alone save Rs 30 crore per month.

The State government is working out plans to arrange electric two-wheelers for one lakh of its employees with an EMI deductible from their salary. Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation (TSREDCO) had invited tenders for this initiative in order to reduce emissions. Delhi, Karnataka and Chandigarh have already started replacing government vehicles with electric vehicles.

Hyundai Kona Electric SUV joins police fleet

In 2019, the Hyundai Kona Electric SUV  has also added into the Gallen’s cantonal police’s fleet, a city in Switzerland. 13 units of Kona have joined the police’s fleet out of the 5 will be used as patrol colors and the rest 8 will be used as ‘civilian’ cars.

When the decision was made they have noted that Kona was the only electric vehicle that could suit and meet the requirements of the Cantonal police. The Kona with its specifications of more than 100 kW power, 400+ km driving range, acquisition cost under CHF 50,000 (₹34.8 lakh) and availability of required units.

Department of Vadodara Traffic Police Department gets 7 EVs

In the same year, On the occasion of 30th National Road safety week The Joy e-bike by the Ward wizard Solutions India Pvt.Ltd presented 7 battery-powered electric cycles and electric scooters to the Department of Vadodara Traffic Police as part of the environmental responsibility for a regular patrolling purpose for making Vadodara pollution-free.

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