Gardaí to trial BMW i3 police vehicle

miamee

How do you think this will work out for them? What kind of range will it likely have with the range extender?
Are there any other police forces using EVs? I have to assume that there are.

https://twitter.com/GardaTraffic/status/951420403834028033

KCross

miamee wrote: »

How do you think this will work out for them? What kind of range will it likely have with the range extender?
Are there any other police forces using EVs? I have to assume that there are.

I remember seeing some police force in the US somewhere having a fleet of i3's

cros13

Several police forces use the i3 and have placed follow-up orders including the London metropolitan police, LAPD, Austrian, Czech, Swiss and and several German police forces.
It's a very suitable vehicle for police work. Quick, plenty of cabin space, low maintenance and as a bonus the back doors don't open without the fronts opening first

The Romanian national police force also use the i3 and have placed orders for several hundred Outlander PHEVs and i3 REx

Ewan Hoosarmi

Don't the London fire service use them too?

cros13

Ewan Hoosarmi wrote:

Don't the London fire service use them too?

Yup

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ghostwriter1976/27818518504

miamee

Interesting, I didn't know that! BMW were on the ball there

dolallyoh

Is the range extender a petrol tank ?

jimmycrackcorm

Reminded straight away of the scene in the movie, the general, where the Gardai run out of petrol up in the Dublin mountains.

scooby77

Saw it today at Young Scientist-looked cool tbh, seem to attract a lot of attention(maybe more from teachers than students). If nothing else will might raise the profile of EVs

jhegarty

dolallyoh wrote: »

Is the range extender a petrol tank ?

Yes, it's got a moped engine under the boot that charges the battery.

Adds about another 130 km range.

Matt Simis

Funny, was looking at a Hyundai Garda car yesterday and was thinking, "The I3 with a REX would make a great urban police car"!

Anyone know whats the average daily mileage a Garda car does? It might not even need a REX if they charge it daily.
Next up, Model X motorway interceptors!

Doc el brown

I used to work in the Guards and used to put up 20k kms per month on the cars. There were two car out all the time 24 7 less breaks so they will need to charge at every chance. Can the i3's be rapid charged?

goz83

Doc el brown wrote: »

I used to work in the Guards and used to put up 20k kms per month on the cars. There were two car out all the time 24 7 less breaks so they will need to charge at every chance. Can the i3's be rapid charged?

What part of the country? I can’t imagine the average city based car doing anywhere near that. Maybe half. Either way, yes, they would need to be charged at every opportunity. What they need are teslas.

KCross

A 7kW charge isn't going to be much use if thats the case and they can't be reliant on the public network.

I know it has the Rex but I don't think that would even be enough if its covering upto 700km/day across multiple shifts with effectively no decent amount of downtime.

They would really need a dedicated rapid to ensure quick turnaround times..... robbery in progress.... "tell everyone to stay where they are, we'll be ready to go in another 2hrs!"

miamee

Would they not just use it for community policing rather than the likes of "robbery in progess"? I suppose running out of charge is no different to running out of petrol/diesel in a pursuit but it will take a lot longer to 'refuel' in that case.

jhegarty

Doc el brown wrote: »

Can the i3's be rapid charged?

Yes on CCS.

mickdw

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Reminded straight away of the scene in the movie, the general, where the Gardai run out of petrol up in the Dublin mountains.

I instantly thought of that too. I know its the range extend version but that amounts to a motorbike engine with little power.

cros13

Doc el brown wrote: »

I used to work in the Guards and used to put up 20k kms per month on the cars. There were two car out all the time 24 7 less breaks so they will need to charge at every chance. Can the i3's be rapid charged?

Yes, and there are suitable rapid chargers to allow 100% charge from empty in just under an hour between shifts available for single phase supply ( like the efacec QC24s electricmobility.efacec.com/ev-qc24s-quick-charger/ ).

I do 60,000km a year in my i3. I've 150,000km on it now with only one visual inspection and brake fluid change at two years as the only required service (barring tires).

jhegarty

mickdw wrote: »

I instantly thought of that too. I know its the range extend version but that amounts to a motorbike engine with little power.

It's same amount of power as when not using the Rex. It just tops up the battery , it never drivers the wheels.

goz83

cros13 wrote: »

Yes, and there are suitable rapid chargers to allow 100% 80% charge from empty in just under an hour between shifts available for single phase supply ( like the efacec QC24s electricmobility.efacec.com/ev-qc24s-quick-charger/ ).

snip

Still pretty damn good.

Matt Simis

cros13 wrote: »

I do 60,000km a year in my i3. I've 150,000km on it now with only one visual inspection and brake fluid change at two years as the only required service (barring tires).

Wow, impressive stats. Makes me think BMW should seriously start offering battery upgrades to replace the service items they are loosing out on. I would love to go from 7.1kWh to 11.6kWh as in the 2018 model and maybe more in the future, but without having to change car.

And back to the thread, the Gardai test will be real interesting testing on hardcore battery drain and other serviceables vs cheaper upfront ICE cars.

80sDiesel

cros13 wrote: »

I do 60,000km a year in my i3. I've 150,000km on it now with only one visual inspection and brake fluid change at two years as the only required service (barring tires).

Very very impressive. I so wish it had the chademo charging as I work and live a stones throw away from 2 Nissan chargers.

ted1

Matt Simis wrote: »

cros13 wrote: »

I do 60,000km a year in my i3. I've 150,000km on it now with only one visual inspection and brake fluid change at two years as the only required service (barring tires).

Wow, impressive stats. Makes me think BMW should seriously start offering battery upgrades to replace the service items they are loosing out on. I would love to go from 7.1kWh to 11.6kWh as in the 2018 model and maybe more in the future, but without having to change car.

And back to the thread, the Gardai test will be real interesting testing on hardcore battery drain and other serviceables vs cheaper upfront ICE cars.

It’s the price of panels that will be real influential. Garda cars tend to attract dings and rammings.

cros13

ted1 wrote: »

It’s the price of panels that will be real influential. Garda cars tend to attract dings and rammings.

The panels are made from thermoplastic and clipped on.

Provided there's not a severe bump that damages the frame repair costs are below a 1-series for example.

mikeecho

The vast majority of gardai won't be able to drive the i3, because of its power to weight ratio.

It's too powerful for its weight, meaning that the driver would need to have passed a level3 driving course.


Level 3 would be for the RSU / ERU etc

offib

Good news everyone!


‘I drove an i3 – after 100 yards I wanted one,’ Vickers posted on Twitter. ‘After 50 miles I really wanted one! Great little car, great tech — talking to our fleet manager. I see the future’

‘It’d be a great car for me personally, but currently just suited to our 12-hour roles where it can charge overnight,’ he said. ‘No real 24/7 policing solution from EVs yet.’

I'm kinda new and never use boards.ie, so I can't do links but... Insiveevs bmw-i3-become-police-car-choice-uk

miamee

There's the link: https://insideevs.com/bmw-i3-become-police-car-choice-uk/

pjproby

Here's a story that might interest you about the experience of the LAPD and their BMW i3 trial.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2018/01/16/goldstein-investigation-10-million-lapd-electric-bmws-appear-unused-misused/

Matt Simis

pjproby wrote: »

Here's a story that might interest you about the experience of the LAPD and their BMW i3 trial.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2018/01/16/goldstein-investigation-10-million-lapd-electric-bmws-appear-unused-misused/

WTF is that about though? How could they only get 80miles range especially as they had a corresponding charger network? Also if that was the problem (really?) why not swap to the REX version? Is this just the case of a terrible product rollout in a police force which no liability as it was sunk cost money by then?

miamee

Matt Simis wrote: »

WTF is that about though? How could they only get 80miles range especially as they had a corresponding charger network? Also if that was the problem (really?) why not swap to the REX version? Is this just the case of a terrible product rollout in a police force which no liability as it was sunk cost money by then?

I'd say it was a case of getting them in, not making their use compulsory (still other ICE vehicles available for use) and not educating the force about the positives of using them. No incentive, no education, no reason for them to change. Also, I'd think they are a pretty small car in comparison to the average vehicle in the US? It's about 10 years since I've been to LA but I don't remember seeing very many (if any) hatchbacks around the place so they may not be seen as desirable to drive by the force either.

ted1

The problem with America is the fossil fuel is so cheap and people are used to oversized cars. On a recent trip we rented a 9 seater 6.2l GMV YUKON. The engine was so badly tuned and inefficient but the Americans don’t care because the engines so big it compensates.

A i3 would be the equivalent of driving a carcyye size of a reva over here

Patser

Garda twitter has a pic up of their newest electric BMW with fleet.


https://mobile.twitter.com/GardaTraffic/status/984862355615047680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.boards.ie%2F

I think a lot of people are not aware that there is a longer range i3 out since the end of 2016 (33 kwh) , 150-180 Kms ( EV only range) , you could stretch 200 kms at slower driving warmer weather, I've seen 220 Kms on the GOM in eco pro mode but not yet put it to the test.

Don't let the 600 cc Rex fool you, it will propel the car as long as there's fuel in the tank and at 110 Kph the battery % does not drop, I think at 120 Kph in the wet it will loose about 4-5% per 40 kms and when you are on slower roads the charge % goes back up some %.

The idea is to use the hold charge function which becomes available at 75% charge, when you're on a long drive and know you won't make it or you don't want to charge or charger is broke, in use or a 2-3 EV queue, or simply none available.

Fill the tank in 8 seconds for roughly 100-130 kms range, that will take you 30-45 mins in a BEV at this time , you can drive forever on petrol or until you get to a charge point.

Due to the lack of CCS fast chargers the Rex has already proven itself to me , it's truly a brilliantly engineered car that I love every single Km in. It's a whole lot of fun and I get way more people asking me about it than the Leaf and everyone gets out smiling wanting another drive, no one asked me for another drive in the Leaf but that's ok as it's an ordinary car that's ultra reliable and does the job as you'd expect from a similar petrol or diesel it's just not exciting or nowhere near as fun as the i3.

I loved the i3 from the start but once I got to the back roads of Galway from Dublin I instantly wanted an i3, the power, the handling and the ride is just awesome ! Over taking was a breeze on those crappy roads. oh yeah I want want want , handed it back with over 500 Kms clocked up lol

I stayed in a BnB and the owner kindly let me charge via an extension lead .

Also the 33 Kwh has a 11 Kw AC charger and when I plug into a public AC point I can get 30-33% per hour of charge eliminating fast charging or greatly reducing the need to wait at fast chargers. The 33 Kwh also charges faster than the older 22 Kwh i3 on DC fast chargers, or gives more range per the same amount of time.

Yeah I have to say I absolutely love this car, best I ever owned and would find it hard to go to another ev unless it was as much fun !

Perhaps my next EV will have 150 Kw charging and 60 Kwh and I won't need a Rex but for now giving the state of the network and recharge times I'm quiet happy with what I got.

Soarer

Are the windows in the back unopenable?

Doc el brown

Doc el brown wrote: »

I used to work in the Guards and used to put up 20k kms per month on the cars. There were two car out all the time 24 7 less breaks so they will need to charge at every chance. Can the i3's be rapid charged?

Yeah it's not as if these cars go off shift when you do. They are in constant use

Greybottle

FWIW the police in Dubai use the i3. Along with the i8, Aventador, Ferrari FF, various Porsches, Aston's.........etc etc etc

Soarer

Soarer wrote: »

Are the windows in the back unopenable?

No you can't open the rear windows, not really a big deal with AC.

Shefwedfan

Deleted User wrote: »

No you can't open the rear windows, not really a big deal with AC.

How does the dog stick his head out then???

Greybottle

Greybottle wrote: »

FWIW the police in Dubai use the i3. Along with the i8, Aventador, Ferrari FF, various Porsches, Aston's.........etc etc etc

Not a huge issue if they are the Rex, it will keep the batteries topped up until they can get to a charger. No reason they can't have a DC charger at the station or a couple of 3 phase AC 11 Kw charge points. Every time they go back to the station they can plug in.

Shefwedfan

Shefwedfan wrote: »

How does the dog stick his head out then???

put him on the passenger seat ! :P

Shefwedfan

Deleted User wrote: »

put him on the passenger seat ! :P

and the wife in the back? :P

I think I would need to ring the Garda alright for protection

Soarer

Deleted User wrote: »

No you can't open the rear windows, not really a big deal with AC.

Fupp sake.

I would really like an i3. It's weird and cool.
But it's almost like an engineering exercise instead of a family car.
2 rear seats?
Rear doors?
No rear "windows"?

I appreciate everyone's needs are different. But jaysus.

This should probably go in the i3 thread, and not take this one OT.

Ewan Hoosarmi

Deleted User wrote: »

No you can't open the rear windows, not really a big deal with AC.

So, it's only the front seat passengers that can laugh out the windows at the proles queueing for chargers? Takes some of the 'fun' out of the car.

Ewan Hoosarmi

Ewan Hoosarmi wrote: »

So, it's only the front seat passengers that can laugh out the windows at the proles queueing for chargers? Takes some of the 'fun' out of the car.

No not at all the rear passengers can still show their two fingers !