Quote:
Originally Posted by phenrichs
This could be the true jumpstart for urban electric vehicles. These LEO vehicles get used a lot. Those battery systems are going to get a real workout and they will get the bugs worked out. This could mean a lot for new types of reliability and performance. I think law enforcement is the perfect arena for these types of hybrid vehicles.
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Pretty sure that whatever bugs you're thinking of have either been worked out over the countless millions of miles & 20 years of use that hybrids have been subjected to
or they're not going to get solved by getting put into police cars.
And while police cars have a harsher duty cycle than commuter vehicles, its not really much worse than taxi cabs. And there have been an awful lot of hybrids sold for taxi service. Wouldn't surprise me if that was the #1 use for hybrid Camry's and Accords.
Also ... hybrids are not electric vehicles. The problems of EVs have little to do with hybrid technology. The biggest impediment to EVs going mainstream is the cost of the battery, followed by recharge times and energy density. None of those things matter too much in a hybrid because you only need 1/10 or even 1/100 the battery capacity of a pure EV.
All that said, a hybrid patrol car makes a ton of sense. The purchase cost difference on a fully kitted out police car is going to be pretty minimal but the operating cost is going to be a lot less. And they'll have little advantages too, like not having to deal with an engine that won't start because of a dead battery. With all the on board electrical capacity, police could have the lights flashing for hours with the engine turned off. I'm sure there are other advantages too but thats just off the top of my head.