Members of the local police force in Portugal will soon have to charge their cars (pun intended) with electricity as the country's PSP (Polícia de Segurança Pública) division has taken delivery of a fleet of Nissan Leaf EVs, complete with flashing blue lights,
A total of eight Leaf police cars will be at the disposal of PSP, which is the security force responsible for policing the large urban areas of the southern European country.
The Japanese carmaker said that the zero-emission cars will be used mainly as part of the PSP's Safe School Program but added that they "can be called upon to perform other police duties at any time", though we have a hard time imagining the Leaf in pursuit of anything faster than a Smart ForTwo.
However, it's the Leaf's green performance that won PSP officials.
"We pride ourselves in being the first police force in the world to incorporate cars with zero-emission technology as part of our 5,000 vehicle fleet," said Superintendent Paul Gomes Valente, National Director of PSP.
"We want to continue reducing pollution in large urban centres and the introduction of the 100 per cent electric Nissan LEAF sets a new benchmark for our fleet," he added.
5 Comments:
Portugal is a southern european country
What do they expect to intercept with that? A scooter?
They are nice cars, but only have a range of 100 miles driven normally. Not going to be good for a long chase silly country.
The Superintendent is probably called Paulo with an "o" in the end (Paul in Portuguese).
In the
Safe School Program they visit a couple of local schools just to check if kids are behaving correctly and keep an eye on traffic when parents pick up their kids. They used to drive cars like the Citroen Saxo, VW Polo, Clio's, so the Leaf is more than enough (although a lot more expensive).This is just marketing "hey look at us we are eco-friendly", meh.
Hello to all "John Waynes of the Wheel" from the Land of Stupidity (ma bad.. it should be opportunity, but hey, those days are gone).
1. Portugal is a southern european country - Medal of Honor! You got it right although some of you guys think we're still a province from Spain. LOL.
2."What do they expect to intercept with that? A scooter?" - Sorry Guys we don't have "interceptors" here! "Interceptors" only are used in USA, which have powerful V8 Engines that cost more in fuel than the price of the car itself, and normally to be efficient in pursuit, needed to be used in multiples of ten (namely 25 or more). In Portugal we use these : http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg684/scaled.php?server=684&filename=imagem399cpia.jpg&res=landing
3. As DATSUN wrote, the cars are to be used in a School Support Program, and not in pursuits. Our Police has a lot of roles, and surely not "cowboys behind the wheel".
Hope it help to clarify.
Best Regards from Portugal, a country with almost a 1000 year old.
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