Stage 2 of WA Police’s ZEV trial is go

WA Police has launched the second phase of its zero-emission-vehicle trial, having just deployed a 2024 Kia EV6 GT-Line AWD to its southwest traffic unit.

The 239kW/605Nm EV will be the mothership of the unit’s patrol fleet and joins the existing array of Kia Sorentos, Kia Stingers, Skoda Superbs, ZB Holden Commodores, Toyota Klugers and unmarked Toyota Prados.

Employing the lessons learned from the previous trial which saw a Hyundai IONIQ 5 act as a general duties vehicle around the state, the pursuit-spec EV6 has been upgraded with a secondary power source to run the various auxiliaries needed for modern policing, thereby alleviating load on the primary drive battery.

“Heavy acceleration, being parked at emergency scenes for extended periods of time with emergency lights activated and other police communications equipment running, and other police-specific factors saw our first trial vehicles achieve up to 30 per cent less range than the standard EV,” said WA Police South West Division superintendent Geoff Stewart.

The additional weight and roof-mounted emergency lights have naturally detracted from the dual-motor EV6’s claimed 484km cruising range but WA Police hasn’t confirmed by how much, only that there’s still more than enough on-hand for effective highway patrolling and pursuits.

WA Police said the EV6 would be kept on the road by a combination of public chargers – including one of the state’s only 350kW ultra-fast-chargers – and the Force’s own infrastructure.

“You’ll see it all over the district,” superintendent Stewart said.

“It’ll be seen around besides on the highways, we want to get it out there and get it seen as well … we’ll use it in a range of areas, but predominantly it’s in our road-policing environment.”

The EV6’s deployment comes just a week after WA Police added a BMW X5 to its metropolitan fleet – debuting the new Euro-inspired highway patrol livery in the process – and just over a week out from the September school holidays, traditionally one of the south west’s most traffic-heavy periods.

No changes have been made to the EV’s chassis set-up or drivetrain for the trial, however a few choice enhancements could be made down the line if EVs are added to the state fleet full-time – pending the outcome of the trial.

No definitive timeline has been given for this phase or what the next step will be, however superintendent Stewart described the coming period as the “real trial” seeing as the car will spend the bulk of its time patrolling the open road as opposed to running between depots.

“While the issues around charging infrastructure will need to be addressed over a longer period, the early trial of electric vehicles will help us learn more about the challenges we need to overcome in terms of individual vehicle performance, particularly in regional and remote settings,” he said.

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