The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is putting the Vauxhall Ampera in service in Belfast city centre as an incident response vehicle.

Vauxhall says that the E-REV technology in the Ampera makes it a good option for use in the emergency services as it benefits from both an electric motor and a petrol engine so there isn’t any concern about range anxiety.

Charging point infrastructure is well developed in Northern Ireland. Currently, electric vehicle owners are no further than 10 miles from a charger.

Marcus Belshaw, head of transport for PSNI, said: “We’re looking forward to putting the revolutionary Ampera through its paces responding to incidents while also reducing our emissions and providing significant savings on fuel costs.”

Picture caption: The Vauxhall Ampera being handed over at eDRIVE, an electric vehicle event in Belfast. Left to right: Ian Allen, chairman of the Society of Motor Manufacturers, Marcus Belshaw, head of transport for PSNI, Dick Ellam, manager, Vauxhall Special Vehicles and  motoring journalist and Ampera owner Quentin Willson.