Leader: Pressing need for police chargers

Winning a race is worth striving for but only if the race is worth running.

Police Scotland has set itself the task of becoming the first emergency service in the UK to switch its entire fleet of cars to ultra-low emission vehicles

Police Scotland has set itself the task of becoming the first emergency service in the UK to switch its entire fleet of 3,500 vehicles from fossil fuels to electricity.

But concerns have been raised over the wisdom of setting this target amid questions over the suitability of electric vehicles for frontline policing.

In Gloucestershire, officers using ultra-low emission vehicles are said to have experienced difficulties finding electric chargers to prevent their high-powered cars ‘running out of puff’.

Last year it emerged Police Scotland had invested in electric cars but not enough chargers to put them into operation, with at least 20 stations across the country where officers were left reliant on public plugs and partner organisations.

Winning the race to become the first police force to have an all-electric fleet will look like an own goal if it happens before Scotland has a reliable infrastructure of vehicle charging points to power them.