RCMP warns push to switch to electric vehicles faces 'significant challenges'

Can the RCMP turn North America's largest law enforcement vehicle fleet green? They're about to find out.

As Canada's national police service, the RCMP falls under Ottawa's Greening Government Strategy — a commitment to lower the environmental footprint of the federal government and get it to net‑zero emissions by 2050.

The strategy calls on the RCMP to replace as many of their approximately 12,000 cars and trucks with zero-emission vehicles as operationally possible by 2035.

But those tasked with meeting that goal are predicting speed bumps along the way.

"We do fully anticipate that there are significant challenges with electric vehicle range for a lot of our units," said Sgt. Shaun Vickery, who works in the RCMP's national traffic programs and operational technologies unit.

"We don't want to put them into a situation where they will fail and put a member at risk or the public at risk because a piece of equipment didn't do what it was supposed to do."

The RCMP is starting small by field-testing two Teslas. One is based with the traffic unit in British Columbia's West Shore detachment and the other helps patrol the grounds of Rideau Hall in Ottawa.

Neither car has to roam too far from a charging station, but range is a major concern for Vickery as the program expands.

As the boots-on-the-ground police in eight provinces, all three territories and 150 municipalities, the RCMP covers vast portions of the country — including many remote and rural areas with limited charging infrastructure and strained power grids.

"I think it poses significant challenges to our organization in terms of operations and being able to respond," said Vickery.

"I do think that there are a lot of locations where we can fit these vehicles into operations and they will do quite well. However, when you head out into the Prairies and ... the northern part of Canada ... we cover a lot of ground and our detachment area is quite large."

The early field testing is also assessing how electric vehicles can handle a police officer behind the wheel.

"Responding to a call may require driving at a higher speed, which is going to consume more battery and decrease your range," said Vickery.

And while the two Teslas — with their panoramic glass sunroofs — are popular with some of the Mounties testing them out, Vickery said they likely won't be used in general duty.