Highway police to be ‘electrified’

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On the basis of the government’s policy, the Kerala police have decided to switch to electric vehicles. A tender notice for Rs.37 lakh has been published to buy two electric vehicles for the Highway Police. The experiment is part of the project to reduce the maintenance cost of the vehicles.

The Highway Police patrolling was designed to provide safety and smooth traveling for commuters along national and other highways. They have 56 highway patrol vehicles. These are diesel vehicles with a mileage of 10 to 12 km for one liter of diesel. One vehicle costs up to Rs.1500 per day on fuel and maintenance. Most of these vehicles are more than 10 years old. The force is experimenting with electric vehicles to phase out the current diesel vehicles slowly.

There are electric vehicles in the market that can run up to 120 to 450 km after charging. The cost of electric vehicles is only Re.1 per kilometer. The added advantage is that it is eco-friendly. The tender is for a six-seater electric vehicle including the driver seat.

Although, there are charging stations for electric vehicles. The charging time to fully charge a vehicle will take up to four hours. However, the service of police vehicles is needed full-time. This might pose a problem. Even quick charging will take 45 minutes minimum. If there is an emergency during this time, the availability of the vehicle will be a big question mark.