Northamptonshire Police and Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue share estate and governance under one commissioner. Dynamon used ZERO to plan which police vehicles can go electric, and how to charge them at the stations the two services share.
Fleet
Commissioned by
Key findings
- 402 vehicles modelled from a registered fleet of 732.
- 87% of modelled vehicles can complete at least 95% of their journeys on a current EV.
- 286 vehicles complete 100% of recorded journeys on a current EV, and 62 more complete 95–99%.
- 94 chargers recommended at 30 of 42 locations, including stations shared with fire and rescue.
- 80 at 11 kW plus 11 chargers at 50 kW and 3 at 100 kW.
“By combining Dynamon’s analysis with real operational fleet data and input from police subject matter experts, this project provides a robust evidence base for understanding the scale of police fleet electrification and the investment needed to deliver it.”
Kate Kirk-Walsh, Net Zero Projects Manager, Midlands Net Zero Hub
The challenge
Northamptonshire Police has 732 vehicles on its fleet list, based across 42 locations. Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue shares that estate, and both services sit under one police, fire and crime commissioner. A charger plan has to cover the stations the two services share, not a police-only layout.
The force needed to know which vehicles can switch to electric and still complete their journeys, which of the 42 locations need depot chargers, and how much power each of those sites will require.
The approach
ZERO imported Northamptonshire Police telematics and simulated each modelled vehicle's real journeys against current EV models. It then sized depot chargers for each site and worked out the power those chargers would draw. Stations shared with fire and rescue were included in that plan.
Of the 732 registered vehicles, 402 had enough telematics, or a suitable proxy, to be modelled.
The results
Of the 402 modelled vehicles, 286 can complete 100% of their recorded journeys on a current EV. A further 62 can complete 95–99%. Together, 87% of the modelled fleet can go electric at the next replacement and still cover at least 95% of their journeys.
ZERO recommended 94 depot chargers at 30 of the 42 locations.
The recommendations cover stations shared by Northamptonshire Police and Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue. Charger numbers and site power demand were set for that joint estate, so police vehicles can charge where the two services already operate together.
- 80 chargers at 11 kW
- 11 chargers at 50 kW
- 3 chargers at 100 kW
Part of a national programme
This study is one of 12 emergency-service fleet reports Dynamon produced for the Midlands Net Zero Hub and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, with the Home Office.
Across those fleets, about 7,500 vehicles were registered at 480 locations, and about 6,400 were modelled on 26.5 million miles of real telematics. 82% of the modelled vehicles, about 5,300, can go electric at their next replacement while completing 95% or more of their journeys. The programme recommended 1,563 depot chargers in total.
Separate regional studies in Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire looked at police, fire and ambulance services sharing electrical infrastructure. At suitable co-located sites, shared infrastructure could cut grid upgrade costs by around 20%. Northamptonshire already shares police and fire stations under one commissioner, so this force's charger plan is built for those joint stations.
Midlands Net Zero Hub has published the national assessment of all 48 UK police forces and agencies. It estimates around 18,300 charge points across more than 2,000 police sites, and an investment of about £1.4 billion. Around 80% of that cost is grid connections and electrical upgrades. Northamptonshire Police received access to ZERO for further scenario planning.
ZERO gave Northamptonshire Police a vehicle-by-vehicle view of what can go electric, and a charger plan for the stations it shares with fire and rescue.