OAKWOOD — A local police department will be the first to use an electric cruiser in Montgomery County.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, Oakwood Police unveiled its new police cruiser on Thursday. It is already on the street.
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News Center 7′s Xavier Hershovitz spoke with city leaders about why they decided to go in that direction.
“They’re ready to get it out on the road and drive a little bit,” said Alan Hill, Oakwood Public Safety Director.
He told Hershovitz that when the vehicle is fully charged, it can go 300 miles. Oakwood is just 2.2 square miles.
“We probably have enough charge capability, honestly, where we could go two or three days before we would have to charge it. So, we plan to recharge it daily, so we don’t anticipate any issues at all,” said Hill.
Hershovitz says the winter reminded us that Ohio can get bitterly cold, which can be troublesome for electric vehicles.
“I think we’ll have to be a little bit more diligent when we get the very, very cold temperatures. The battery longevity does reduce,” said Hill.
Mayor Bill Duncan said residents came to the city with the idea. He told Hershovitz that the more they looked into it, the more they realized this was something that made sense for Oakwood.
“We normally keep our police fleet on an eight-year turnover cycle, and so where we find out most of the expenses that we have in running the fleet is in those last three to four years of the cars being in service,” said Duncan.
The mayor says investing in them now will save money in the long term.
“We think we’re going to make it up in either fuel savings or, clearly for sure, maintenance and repairs over the life of the vehicle,” Duncan told Hershovitz.
The electric vehicle is one of eight police cruisers. Hershovitz says the city could add more depending on how it goes.
Oakwood’s 32-member Budget Committee must approve the purchase.
The city also told News Center 7 that the electric cruisers would cost about $85,000.
The chief said a similar gas-powered cruiser would cost around $72,000.
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