Metropolitan Police Smart car

Today’s police cars are a far cry from the fume-belching Wolseleys used by the Bill back in the 60s. None of the Met’s fleet of 8,600 vehicles emits more than 225g of CO2 per km and, to help the ­environment, general-­purpose police cars are ­restricted to 120g per km.

Now the Met is trialling four electric Smart cars, two of which are in police livery – in the West End and ­Heathrow. The two-seater Smart Ed is ­powered solely by electricity and emits no CO2 or any harmful substances. It has a top speed of 60mph and a 70-mile range between charge-ups. It’s also economical, costing about £1 in ­electricity for every 50 miles.

The nippy Smart Eds are used for routine police operations in congested areas to see how viable they are as urban cop cars.

Nigel Jakubowski, the Met’s director of transport services, says: “The Met Police is ­committed to ultra-low emission ­policies. Our main fleet is ­diesel-powered, which ­offers greater fuel ­economy and has lower emissions, and we also have more than 100 Toyota Prius hybrids [without police liveries, lights or sirens] on local patrol and transport duties.”

Jakubowski says that the various functions for which the vehicles are needed fall into 12 categories: routine neighbourhood patrols, ­response to emergency calls, pursuit, general transport, support (non-frontline duty), training, delivery of supplies and equipment, surveillance, traffic patrol, VIP escort, armed protection and senior officers’ personal transport.

“Our standard ‘area car’ – an emergency response and pursuit car affiliated to a local police station – is the BMW 5 Series,” says Jakubowski. “This is the car you’ll often see ­responding to ­emergency calls. We ­operate more than 100 of them in London. They are fitted with large turbo-diesel engines and have their suspension strengthened in order to deal with the extra demands of policing.”

The 5 Series is chosen not only for its power and toughness, but for its generous ­storage space. While the ­estate version is used by ­traffic cops to stash traffic cones and other safety equipment, the bullet-proofed ­saloon version is a favourite of the armed ­response unit, as it can easily accommodate four or five tooled-up men, plus an ­arsenal in the boot.

The fleet also includes Vauxhall Vectras and Astras, Fords and Audi A6s, as well as Mitsubishi Shoguns and Land Rover Discoveries for off-­roading. Jakubowski adds: “­London driving conditions require robust vehicles that can carry officers and equipment from A to B safely.

“The cars we buy are ­selected for the specific duty they perform. If speed isn’t a requirement, we choose low-performance cars like the ­Astras.

“When speed is necessary, we select cars for, first of all, the quality of their brakes, their good handling and high performance.

“Secondly, they need plenty of room to carry both personnel and equipment.”

Met’s favourite high performers

• BMW 5 Series

Engine: diesel

0-60mph in 6.4 secs

CO2 emission: 178g/km

Top speed: 155mph

Boot size: 520 litres

• Audi A6

Engine: diesel

0-60mph in 8.6 secs

CO2 emission: 139g/km

Top speed: 142mph

Boot size: 546 litres

• Vauxhall Vectra

Engine: diesel

0-60mph in 6.7 secs

CO2 emission: 176g/km

Top speed: 153mph

Boot size: 500 litres

• Mitsubishi Shogun

Engine: diesel

0-60mph in 11.7 secs

CO2 emission: 251g/km

Top speed: 110mph

Boot size: 800 litres