It has ordered 117 Honda Civic Hybrids for its Community Support Officers to use as part of a Safer Neighbourhoods scheme – an initiative to increase police presence on the streets.
More than 70 vehicles have already been delivered, with the remainder arriving over the next few months. The deal is part of a long-term green commitment on the force, which operates about 6,500 vehicles, as it has already trialled the Toyota Prius, fully electric vehicles and LPG cars.
It has also invested heavily in bio-diesel bunkering facilities as part of its £8.5 million annual fuel spend.
Speaking at the National Association of Police Fleet Managers (NAPFM) annual conference and exhibition, Stuart Middleton, director of transport services at the Met Police, which is managed by VT Group, said: ‘They will meet police requirements and fulfil our social responsibility to try to make our fleet of vehicles as green as possible.
‘They are a bit more expensive to lease, but we need to balance the desire to produce a vehicle with the lowest environmental impact with the cost to the tax payer that funds the vehicles.’
Each vehicle is provided on a two-year/24,000-mile contract hire basis through Lex, Britain’s biggest leasing company.
Honda has sold about 3,000 hybrids since it first introduced the technology in 1999 with the Insight, including 500 Civic Hybrids since its launch in April.
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