July, 2000

Carlucci sent the following correspondence to Gloucester local newspaper The Citizen, urging the police to follow the example of their Jersey, UK and US counterparts who are increasingly opting to use electric vehicles:

Sir/Madam,
Following your report on police and alternative powered vehicles I thought your readers might be interested to hear of a few other surprising and effective initiatives being adopted by other Forces. Jersey Police for example were so impressed by a long-range (125 miles a charge) electric vehicle being tested on the island by Toyota - a state-of-the-art RAV4 electric - that they leapt at the chance to acquire one for beat-use when it was offered. It apparently costs even less to run (around 1p a mile - please do the maths!) than a gas-converted vehicle and has the added advantage of being extremely 'stealthy', that is almost completely silent in operation. Maintenance costs are extremely low in comparison to internal combustion engine vehicles due to electric motor's low vibration and the reduced need for oil, lubrication etc.
In the States - and this may surprise many readers - over 200 Police departments now use very 'cool-looking' and again stealthy/silent ELECTRIC or electric-assist mountainbikes. The police officers themselves are very enthusiastic and insist that the electric bikes (or 'e-bikes') not only bring them closer to the community than black-windowed police vans or patrol cars but also in many situations enable them to catch suspects faster and cover far greater distances with considerably less effort than bobbies on the beat. Yours Jim CARLUCCI Editor evuk.co.uk (Electric Vehicle Information website)
Yours, Jim CARLUCCI