Is the NZ Police’s first electric car is also its fastest?

Last week it was confirmed that the New Zealand Police would be commencing its operational electric vehicle trial via a fleet of five pure EV BMW i4s.

Inevitably, the announcement attracted all manner of comments on social media. Amongst them, various jibes from electric vehicle critics questioning the i4’s range abilities and its ability to keep pace in a pursuit.

Whilst how the i4’s 590km WLTP-rated range will fare during a lengthy pursuit is a valid topic of inquiry, its ability to keep up with speeders and evaders is easier to define.

The entry-level i4 eDrive is powered by a rear-mounted electric motor, which sends 250kW of power and 430Nm of torque to its rear wheels – enabling a 0–100kph time of 5.7 seconds.

This makes the i4 the quickest car to ever feature on the police frontline. Although, the margin is perhaps less than one might expect … and it comes with a caveat.

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* SUVs and utes are still taking over New Zealand roads

Amongst the more petrol-headed amongst us, New Zealand’s most memorable police vehicles are likely to be the rear-wheel drive Australian Fords and Holdens.

Holdens first joined the local police fleet in the late 1950s. A bevy of different nameplates featured in the black and white police strip, including the Special, the Kingswood, the Belmont, and then ultimately the Commodore.

Ford’s once popular Falcon arrived on the scene at a similar time, before being phased out of the Prime One role at the turn of the new millennium. Ford was also represented by the Zephyr, Cortina, and Sierra at various points in time.

Holden and Ford weren’t the only marques in the fray, either. At one point, they were sharing the beat with Honda Accords and Mitsubishi V3000s.

Inevitably, the last Aussie-made Commodore to feature in the police fleet was also the quickest. Whilst a small number of VF Commodore SV6s may still be in service today, most of the final examples were decommissioned and auctioned off last year.

The SV6 utilises a 216kW/350Nm 3.6-litre naturally aspirated Ecotec V6. Pin the throttle and nail the launch, and you can get one of these SV6s to hit 100kph in 6.5 seconds – eight tenths of a second slower than the i4.

The SV6 is not only quicker than the Holdens that came before it, but it’s also quicker than the Holdens that came after it, too. Before Holden’s demise as a company, the police drafted a large number of German-made ZB Commodores shod with a 191kW/350Nm 2.0-litre.

The ZB’s lighter weight and more sophisticated platform means that, through a slalom, it’s more than a match for the VF. But in a straight line, it loses the race to 100kph by six tenths of a second.

The VF SV6 has always been a formidable tool for local police, but it lost its crown as quickest police car on the fleet in 2021, when Skoda won the contract to become the new Prime One police car of choice with its Superb wagon.

Two versions of Superb exist on the police fleet; a front-wheel drive 162kW variant, and the all-wheel drive 206kW/350Nm version that uses a detuned version of the turbocharged four-cylinder engine from Volkswagen’s Golf R hot hatch.

Those who are firm fans of electric vehicles won’t be surprised to learn that, yes, the BMW i4 with its instant torque is quicker to 100kph than the top spec Skoda. But, they might be surprised that the performance margin is miniscule – just one tenth of a second.

The Superb’s 5.8-second 0–100kph time is only narrowly shaded by the i4’s 5.7-second run. In fact, the Superb gets one back on the i4 by having a higher claimed top speed (250kph to 190kph).

The i4’s quicker acceleration time is the more relevant metric for day-to-day police operations. Indeed, that acceleration figure is backed up by another key performance metric; quarter mile times. It is claimed that the i4 can do a quarter-mile pass in 13.2 seconds … half a second quicker than the Skoda.