German police officers have become unhappy about the electric police cars forced on them by the government.
Ralf Kusterer, deputy leader of German Police Trade Union (Deutsche Polizeigewerkschaft, DPolG), told tabloid Bild on March 20 the new cars’ batteries empty much too fast to use efficiently as per by law enforcers’ needs.
According to the union leader, some police missions had to be aborted as the cars lost power even when charged overnight at the police station.
Some officers had been required to spend their working hours at charging stations as their cars’ battery power was slowly restored.
In July 2024, police stations in the southwestern German State of Baden-Wurttemberg were given a fleet of 136 Audi Q4 e-tron 45 Quattro vehicles (retail price from €55,000).
The state’s interior minister Thomas Strobl of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) hailed the cars as an “investment into our safety as well as into climate protection”.
Baden-Wurttemberg is governed by The Greens party with the Conservative CDU as a junior partner.
Neues ⚡ #Elektrofahrzeug: Unsere Fahrzeugflotte fährt ab sofort auch den Audi Q4 e-tron. Mit einer Reichweite von 540 Kilometern kann er auch bei längeren Strecken unterstützen. Unsere Flotte wird regelmäßig erneuert. Wie gefällt Euch unser Neuzugang? Eure #Polizei #Stuttgart pic.twitter.com/Z6I7ZBJp4x
— Polizei Stuttgart (@PP_Stuttgart) November 14, 2024
Questioned by Julia Goll, a Liberal State MP, on how the ministry was assessing the situation, ministry officials reportedly answered that police officers could use the time spent at the charger to “carry out research or processing of files by using the personal mobile phones provided”.
Goll called the suggestions “grotesque” and completely removed from serious police work.
Kusterer said: “In reality in such cases two police officers have to sit in the car and listen to how their colleagues call for back-up.”
How often police missions were hindered by empty batteries of police cruisers could not be determined, the state interior ministry said, as “there is no statistical recording of pursuits or emergency journeys by the Baden-Württemberg police”.
