Mixed reactions as Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Toyota Mirai chosen for WA police trial

An all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 and a hydrogen-fuelled Toyota Mirai will take part in a trial with the West Australia police.

The vehicles are on loan from their respective carmakers, and will take part in the long-term trial which aims to determine the suitability of the vehicles for daily policing service.

West Australian police minister Paul Papalia spoke in a video released by the department on Thursday to social media: “The West Australian police force probably has the biggest vehicle pool in state government. and it represents our biggest challenge in police to becoming environmentally friendly and addressing climate change,” he said.

“The state government’s focused on that, we’ve got a strategy towards achieving targets, and as part of that the police force have partnered up with Toyota and Hyundai to trial vehicles that might be suitable for policing in the future.

“It won’t be long, and just about most vehicles that will be being produced around the world will be either electric or things like the hydrogen cell vehicle behind us,” he said.

Assistant commissioner Allan Adams said he’s very keen to see how the trial goes.

“We’re putting a lot of effort into getting more of those cars out on the road, more frequently. So certainly the cumulative effort of the introduction of electric cars into the fleet has a big value for the community,” he said.

“The intent of the cars being introduced during this trial is to work out how well they put up with the rigours of operational policing.”

The Facebook post had attracted more than 100 comments with mixed reactions – many of them misinformed – within two hours of posting.

“Addressing climate change where does the power to charge come from,” said one poster.

“ Increasingly from the sun and wind. Surely you know this,” said another.

“As long as a high speed pursuit is under 30mins they’ll be fine. That’s with no previous battery use during the shift,” said a third.

“You think modern batteries only last for half an hour? LOL,” another replied.

“You will always get people so entrenched in their old ways they will knock anything new and progressive. Good on WAPOL trying something new,” said one.

In fact, both vehicles can recharge quickly, and have considerable driving range before needing to recharge or refuel (although acceleration for the Mirai might be far below what we think would be desirable in a police vehicle).

The problem with the Mirai is that there are hardly any hyddrogen refuelling stations. It is understood its trial will be conducted in and around the Fremantle district, so that it can be refuelled at the only hydrogen refuelling station in WA currently, at ATCO Australia’s operations centre in Jandakot.

But it does have 650km range and uses a fuel cell tank that converts hydrogen to electricity and can be refuelled in a matter of minutes. However, its acceleration performance is an underwhelming 0-100km/hr in 9.2 seconds.

The Ioniq 5, by contrast, will be trialled in regional as well as metro areas, including with State Traffic, and at Midland, Rockingham, Geraldton and Bunbury Police Stations. Being a battery-electric vehicle, it can be recharged anywhere there is electricity.

A winner of numerous automotive awards across the globe, it (along with the Kia EV6, with which it shares the South Korean motor group’s e-GMP platform) is a ground-up electric vehicle that features vehicle-to-load and ultra-fast charging capabilities. Its 350kW fast-charging means it can recharge more than 300km in less than 15 minutes.

Rather than take the shape of a high-performance fastback as does its stablemate the EV6, the Ioniq 5 is a deceptively spacious crossover that in its all-wheel-drive format can jump from a standing start to 100km/hr in as little as 5.2 seconds.

The Driven has reached out to Hyundai to confirm which variant is being loaned to the force, and in its long-range format, it can drive more than 500km before needing to recharge.