German police unhappy with electric cars they patrol with: Too often they are on the charger

In the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg, police should pursue criminals in the most climate-neutral way possible – with electric vehicles.

But, according to the German Police Union, they are often left without electricity, reports the Telegraph.

Is the safety of citizens threatened by electric patrol cars? Or is the problem even bigger – that the vehicles are simply sitting at charging stations instead of being in the field?

The main obstacle is the new fleet of electric vehicles, introduced by provincial interior minister Thomas Strobl (CDU).

When they were introduced last July, they were promoted as an “investment in safety and climate protection.” A total of 136 Audi Q4 e-tron 45 Quattro vehicles are in use, distributed across 145 police stations across the province.

However, according to Ralf Kusterer (62), president of the German Police Union, the reality is far from ideal: "It happens that electric vehicles are charged at the station at night and their batteries are already depleted during the day shift."

The result? Police interventions have to stop and patrol officers spend more time at filling stations than chasing criminals, writes Bild.

The newspaper also learned the content of the provincial Interior Ministry's response to a question from Julia Goll, a representative of the Freedom Democratic Party (FDP) in the Baden-Württemberg parliament.

It states: "When police vehicles are at refueling points, officers may use their official cell phones for investigative or administrative duties."

Trade unionist Kusterer sharply criticizes such an approach: "In reality, while two police officers are sitting in a car, they are listening to their colleagues calling for help over the radio – and they are stuck at a filling station."

Another problem: there are no statistics on how many times a dead car battery prevented the police from intervening.

The ministry confirmed that there is no such data officially, although police officers are expected to report when their vehicle is running low on battery power to continue working.