(Radio Iowa) – As the Biden Administration continues its push to move from gas-powered to electric cars, police departments are finding it tough to make the transition. Sioux City Police Chief Rex Mueller says getting regular patrol cars right now is not easy. “It is very hard for us to get patrol cars nowadays there’s a very short window that the manufacturers give for orders — so just being able to replenish your fleet — whether it’s hybrid or electric or or gas engine is very difficult,” he says. “It’s a challenge for all police departments right now.”
Mueller says electric vehicles pose some challenges that include the time it takes to charge them.

“The charging technology is getting better. But during the time period that those vehicles are being recharged, they’re out of service,” Mueller says. “… Our patrol cars are being driven literally 24/7. An officer comes in, they hand the keys off to another officer and they’re off. It’s easier and quicker to fuel them up during the course of a shift than it is to recharge a vehicle, because they’re absolutely unavailable for service then.” Mueller says police vehicles have more equipment than stock electric vehicles, which also poses a problem.

“There’s not a lot of all electric vehicles made for police use and police vehicles need to be ruggedized, they need to be made to accept all the equipment that we give them, and there’s not a lot of manufacturers that are willing to dive into that at the moment,” Mueller says. He says they do not have any electric vehicles in use, but do have a handful of hybrid vehicles. He says the hybrids do save on gas, but they also pose some challenges as well.