SINGAPORE - A fleet of 19 quick, silent and exhaust-free electric Polestar 2 saloons will be patrolling our expressways from 2024.
The Traffic Police (TP) have picked the Swedish car out of several bidders in a public tender called in October 2022 and which closed on Jan 31, 2023.
Besides Polestar (represented by local agent Wearnes Automotive), other bidders included South Korea’s Hyundai Ioniq 5 (jointly submitted by Hyundai agent Komoco and Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Centre Singapore), China’s BYD Seal and Germany’s BMW i4 and iX1 (all submitted by Malaysian motor group Sime Darby).
Wearnes Automotive’s winning bid was around $3.8 million, which includes a maintenance programme for the cars over 10 years. According to documents in GeBiz, the other bid values were not far off, except for Hyundai’s, whose value of about $1.9 million excluded the maintenance component.
The cars are tax-free and do not require certificates of entitlement.
The Polestar 2 will be the dual-motor all-wheel drive variant, capable of reaching 100kmh in 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 205kmh. It has an 82kWh battery, which gives it a range of around 470km on Singapore roads – provided it is not involved in repeated high-speed chases.
These figures far exceed the minimum requirement in the tender, which stated that cars should be able to reach 100kmh within 8 seconds, and have a battery capacity of at least 60kWh.
The Straits Times understands the first Polestar cars will be delivered in 2024, and replace ageing highway patrol vehicles from brands such as BMW, Subaru and Volvo.
The new cars will be the first electric cars to wear the Traffic Police expressway patrol livery. Previous models included the diesel BMW 325d, and petrol-powered Subaru WRX, Volvo S40 and Volvo S80.
The tender has an option for an additional three Polestars to be delivered, bringing the potential electric fleet to 22.
Before they are delivered, the cars will be fitted with police equipment and paraphernalia. A sizeable portion of the tender value will go into retrofitting these.
The TP’s move is seen as part of Singapore’s initiative to move towards cleaner energy vehicles in a bid to reduce emissions.
The Government aims to ban the registration of new pure combustion engine cars from 2030, and to have all vehicles here running on cleaner energy by 2040, although it is unclear what precisely “cleaner energy” entails.
Sources said other police departments are also shopping for EVs, including all-wheel-drive seven-seaters – a rarity in the electric segment.
A number of law enforcement agencies in other countries have already included EVs in their fleet.
In 2019, the Australian state of Victoria bought a Tesla Model X for highway patrol duties, reported EV news portal Driven.
Several jurisdictions in the United States have added EVs to their fleet, including New York City, which ordered 184 Ford Mustang Mach-Es, according to Automotive News.
London is trying out a fleet of Tesla Model 3s, reported The Guardian in 2021.
Recently, the British police added the Polestar 2 to their fleet, although it is the pre-facelift version, unlike Singapore’s, which will be getting the latest facelifted version.
