(Repentigny) Officer Dimitri Milonas activates the flashing lights and sets off in pursuit of the car which has just passed in front of him at 76 km/h, in a zone limited to 50.
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Agent Dimitri Milonas, in radar operation, in his electric car
The car accelerates very quickly… in complete silence.
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Agent Dimitri Milonas intercepts a vehicle.
Welcome to North America’s first all-electric emergency call response police vehicle; a Ford Mach-E transformed for the needs of the Service de police de la Ville de Repentigny (SPVR).
Electric vehicles are already used by many police forces, but only for functions other than responding to emergency calls, whether for investigators, senior officers or social and community services.
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Agent Dimitri Milonas driving his Ford Mach-E
“Me, I love the vehicle,” says Dimitri Milonas, one of 15 officers trained to use the car as part of the one-year pilot project, launched in June.
“I feel it’s safer, it holds the road better,” he explains, acknowledging that he himself had some apprehensions before starting to use it.
“Will I be able to do my shift full, winter? Will it be powerful enough to pick up the vehicle forward? wondered the policeman who has 23 years of experience and drove the illustrious Ford Crown Victoria at the start of his career.
But the vehicle seduced him from the training day.
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
In terms of acceleration, the modified Ford Mach-E has nothing to envy to the Dodge Charger.
“When accelerating, it was five, six vehicle distances ahead of the Dodge Charger” – a very common vehicle in North American police force fleets – he enthuses, adding that the advantage was similar to braking.
“No issue” of autonomy
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
With its pale blue tint and yellow chevrons, the Service de police de la Ville de Repentigny car is reminiscent of European police vehicles.
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
The modified car includes a long gun storage box.
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
It was the Quebec company Cyberkar that transformed the Ford Mach-E into a patrol car.
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
So far, the vehicle’s range has not caused the police department any concern. The electric car never used more than 52% of the battery charge over a full shift.
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Dimitri Milonas is full of praise for the electric police car, which was fitted out to measure by the Quebec company Cyberkar, a specialist in the field: storage box for long weapons, partition to isolate the defendants and anti-ballistic plate under the hood, to compensate for the absence of an engine block, in particular.
The exercise was also an opportunity to rethink the image of the cars; the Mach-E is inspired by the colors of European police vehicles, pale blue with yellow chevrons, for more visibility.
The police applications have been integrated into the on-board computer and are accessible via the integrated screen, avoiding the addition of an additional computer.
The only pitfalls encountered so far are computer and ergonomic “issues”; none affecting the mode of electric propulsion, indicates Chief Inspector Jean-Claude Roch.
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Jean-Claude Roch, Chief Inspector
Battery issues, currently, there are none.
Jean-Claude Roch, City of Repentigny Police Department
The vehicle never used more than 52% of the battery charge over a full shift, says Roch, who says he instructed his police officers to use it like any other vehicle, bluntly.
The “real test” is coming
During the first phase of the pilot project, the patrol car was used during one work shift out of two; it is now two shifts out of three, day and evening; then from January, it will be used on the three working shifts of the day.
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
The electric car will soon experience its first winter. The “real test” in terms of autonomy, according to Dimitri Milonas, while Jean-Claude Roch believes that the winter cold will ensure that the battery retains more of its energy.
Refills are done during meal breaks, when writing reports at the workstation and when changing shifts, which is more than enough so far.
“I can’t wait to see what it will be like in winter,” said Dimitri Milonas, who was not worried about what he described as a “real test” for the car.
Jean-Claude Roch expects the winter cold to affect the vehicle’s range less, since it will be used almost constantly, so the battery will never completely cool.
“We think she’s going to retain her energy a lot more,” he said.
Significant savings
The Mach-E should generate savings of at least 15% over four years of use compared to a Dodge Charger combustion patrol car, calculates the SPVR.
“And we are very conservative,” insists Jean-Claude Roch, pointing out that the assessment was made when a liter of gasoline was selling for $1.17, and that it does not take maintenance costs into account, so unknown, but which promise to be weaker for the electric vehicle.
The experience aroused the interest of many police forces, and not the least: the Ontario Provincial Police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Montreal police, the Sûreté du Québec and even the New York police. are interested, among others.
“I meet almost every month,” says Jean-Claude Roch.
The Ford manufacturer has even obtained the “police pack” certificate for its Mach-E, required by many police forces [voir encadré]following the launch of the SPVR pilot project, paving the way for widespread use of this vehicle by law enforcement.
WHAT IS THE “POLICE PACKAGE” CERTIFICATE?
The “police package” certificate is issued by the Michigan State Police (MSP), which each year submits the police vehicles offered on the North American market to a battery of tests. These vehicles are adaptations of “civilian” models equipped in particular with a more efficient suspension, larger brakes, tires with speed ratings allowing their sustained use at speeds of 240 km/h, as well as other particularities. related to police safety. The Ford Mach-E is the only fully electric vehicle with “police package” certification (2022 and 2023 models). “From what I hear, next year there could be many more electric vehicles submitted to our tests,” MSP Lieutenant Nicholas Darlington told La Presse. The collective agreements of many police forces require that vehicles used for patrol be homologated “police package”.
Learn more
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- 22
- Number of vehicles for responding to emergency calls owned by the Service de police de la Ville de Repentigny
Source: Police Department of the City of Repentigny