Connecticut Police Departments Test Out Electric Vehicles — With Some Naysayers In The Crowd – CleanTechnica

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What great news it was to learn that a handful of police departments in Connecticut are piloting electric vehicles (EVs) for their workday needs. With EV prices near parity with internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) and highly efficient batteries providing more than adequate range, it makes sense that more municipal transit is getting electrified.

Yet the media article that spread the word about the decision for Norwalk, CT, to test zero emission police cruisers seems to have a disconcerting subtext — it reinforces several myths about EVs in its discussion about CT police departments that go green.

Follow along, please, and participate in the deep dig about EV mythology that, unfortunately, continues on in some media channels.

The Norwalk Police Department has designated school resource officers to test the two EVs over the next few months in a pilot program.

The News12 CT lede — the introductory section of a news story that is intended to entice the reader to read the full story — was pleasant enough. “The department unveiled its first two electric police cruisers on Friday. And it’s not just Norwalk. Across Connecticut, a small but growing list of police agencies are experimenting with zero-emission vehicles.”

Immediately afterward, however, writer John Craven poses a question. “But are they practical?” Choosing the word “practical” to describe police departments’ daily use of EVs is evaluative — it creates suspicion in the reader that EVs might be leisurely, avant-garde, or fun but not a good fit for the rigors of police work.

Then comes the plight of poor Officer Raul Aldarondo, who “has a new ride — a police cruiser that doesn’t need gas.” But he didn’t know “how to start it at first,” which suggests to readers who have no personal familiarity with EVs that they must be complicated to start and, by implication, drive.

Then Aldarondo says, incomprehensibly, “We’ll start with something that, you know, these things aren’t getting burnt out too quickly.” EVs burn out? Maybe the electrification fails? And this tends to happen soon after purchase??

The officer then rambles, “And maybe we’ll increase and see how far we can take these things.” Perhaps he is referring to the range of the EV? Or the speed of acceleration? Or power chasing alleged felons? It’s hard to follow, especially because the officer is a school resource officer — where’s he doing all that driving, anyway? From the station to the school, maybe to a local stadium, or YMCA after school? If that’s all the driving Aldarondo is doing, he won’t have to charge up his new EV for a week. EVs have wonderful acceleration off the starting line, and their strength is undisputed under power.

The author then reins in the threat to his counternarrative by repeating the meta description at the top of the page (“pilot program,” “over the next 8 months,” “all-day patrol shifts”).

Perhaps realizing he wasn’t clear in his previous quotes, Aldarondo next explains that “people were worried” about the department going “completely green.” Norwalk’s police department, he continues, runs its patrol cars “20 to 22 hours out of the day between all three of our shifts.” Aldarondo doesn’t seem to have received much training in driving an EV prior to this interview. He doesn’t express understanding how fast charging works — the patrol cars could be fully recharged during a lunch break. (Research shows that the city has 12 electric vehicle charging stations at City Hall on East Avenue, two at Police Headquarters on Monroe Street, and six at the Public Works garage on Smith Street.)

Norwalk Police Chief Jim Walsh was a bit more circumspect and optimistic, acknowledging that the city just received the cars the previous week. Instead of envisioning problems, Walsh outlines how Norwalk will “be assessing this program for possible expansion to all different areas of the department.”

(At this point of the article, the reader still doesn’t know what kind of EVs are new to the Norwalk PD. Additional research reveals that the cars are police versions of electric Chevrolet Blazers, outfitted with the same emergency equipment and data terminal as the department’s gasoline-powered patrol cruisers.)

The article’s author then regresses, saying, “Limited mileage range is the biggest concern for most police departments.” That’s an existential assumption — that, once stated, is taken to be (“exist”) without question. Chevrolet states that the 2024 Chevy Blazer EV RS RWD has up to 324 miles of range on a full charge. Because most EV drivers only charge to 80% to protect battery longevity, the daily range is more like 260 miles. That’s a lot of miles.

“But beyond range, what about the cost?” Craven asks, recontextualizing the two variables — he creates a relationship between range and cost in which one is relocated in the context of the other. Quickly, Craven admits the EVs “cost $52,000 each — not much more than a gas-powered cruiser.” That concession must’ve made the author cringe, realizing that the comparable cost refuted the overall questioning tone of the article.

The middle of the article dredges up an issue that’s been resolved for years — the cost of replacing an electric vehicle battery. Craven tells his readers that it “can cost more than $10,000.” Batteries in EVs today, however, are built to outlast the vehicles they’re powering. Craven then admits that “the federal government requires carmakers to warranty batteries for eight years or 100,000 miles.” Recently, a study on battery life degradation concluded that, after anywhere from 120,000 to 180,000 miles of driving, the state of health of an EV battery remains almost flat, with the average remaining close to 87%.

Barry Kresch, president of EVClubCT, told CleanTechnica, “EVs have come a long way. Batteries last a long time, and there are many models that have over 300 miles of range. With a lower maintenance profile, they provide greater uptime and additional monetary savings.”

The article ends with another confusing quote — this from what is likely a well-meaning high school senior who describes EVs as “a gamble” and “new.” Actually, EVs aren’t that new — Chevy’s first mass produced battery electric vehicle was the Chevrolet Bolt EV. It was first introduced at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show in 2016 and made its debut as a full-production EV for the 2017 model year, about 8 years ago.

To describe an EV as a “gamble” classifies battery electric transportation as less reliable, efficient, and safe for the Norwalk PD than a gas-powered car would be. Probably nervous, the student walks back his original quote, insisting that Norwalk’s citizens “need to trust electric vehicles.”

Final Thoughts

The article’s sloppiness points to a writer who probably doesn’t get much editorial support. But, more importantly, its publication confers importance and taints automotive consumers who might be compelled to think intently about purchasing an EV if the article had been more up-to-date, informative, and research-based.

EVClubCT president Kresch also shared with us some tidbits about one of the other CT police departments that has added EVs to their patrol car fleets. The Westport, CT PD “testing went so well that they now have about 10 EVs with more on order. They have different EVs for parking patrol, school patrol, and other uses, including an EUV with a winch that is used at the beach and an e-motorcycle that is part of traffic patrol.”

Below are pictures that Kresch sent along of two of Westport EVs: an e-motorcycle and a utility vehicle.