Fair cop: Electric Hyundais in force

Plug-in Konas and Ioniqs to boost ecocred for NZ Police

The New Zealand Police is making is first tentative steps into battery electric vehicles (BEVS). Hyundai NZ is supplying a number of Kona Electric and Ioniq 5 BEVS for non-operational use at 15 locations.

The supply deal includes five Ioniq 5s and 34 64kwh Kona Electrics, forming part of Police plans to build an emissions-free vehicle fleet within five years.

NZ Police made the move to loweremission cars when the four-cylinder ZB

Holden Commodore replaced the Australian-built V6 model in 2017, and then switched to the Skoda Superb wagon following Holden’s demise in 2020.

Since Skoda took over supply, NZ Police has also tested a number of plug-in hybrid Superbs, but the Hyundais mark its first foray into full electric cars. The cars won’t be frontline patrol vehicles, however, and Hyundai says the cars will be used by police support personnel. So don’t mind our liveried-up image; we couldn’t resist.

Both Hyundai BEVS selected by the police offer long ranges, with the 64kwh Kona Electric getting up to 484km in the WLTP test cycle, while the 72kwh Ioniq 5 has a WLTP range up to 481km for the FWD model and 460km for the AWD model. Hyundai hasn’t specified which version has been selected by NZ Police.

Skoda also has a BEV on the way to NZ, but its Enyaq iv won’t arrive here until sometime in 2023, having been delayed by the global semiconductor shortage.

The company has just announced s it will reveal local pricing and specification for Enyaq in February, although it’s not yet clear when customer cars will be available: cars on display at in showrooms will be “preproduction” vehicles. The Enyaq iv will come with a number of battery options ranging from a 55kwh version that offers a Wltp-tested range of 340km up to an 82kwh version that offers 460km. Enyaq is already used as a front-line patrol car in the UK.