Galway garda forced to hitchhike to ‘serious incident’ as patrol EV nears empty
An Garda Síochána has acknowledged that electric vehicles may not be suited to rural policing after a Galway garda was forced to hitchhike when his EV ran low on charge.
Galway-Roscommon TD Martin Daly raised the issue during a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting this week, as he shared how an on-duty garda had to hitchhike while responding to a “serious incident” in Cloonburn.
Addressing An Garda Síochána Commissioner Justin Kelly, Deputy Daly recounted the experience of Garda Pat Regan, whom he described as an “exemplar of a guard”.
Garda Regan was on patrol in Ballygar, he explained, when he responded to an incident in Cloonburn. His electric vehicle had 22pc charge when he left Ballygar, but he pulled over three miles from the scene for fear of running out of “juice”.
The car had 11pc charge left when Garda Regan pulled over.
Galway-Roscommon TD Martin Daly speaking about Garda Pat Regan in a PAC meeting on October 8.
Deputy Daly said the electric vehicles used by gardaí gain just 4pc of battery charge in an hour, meaning a full charge can take 25 hours. However, with patrol cars in use around the clock, there is little time or opportunity to fully recharge them.
A passing motorist picked up the garda and brought him to the scene of the incident. Upon his return, the electric vehicle had to be towed away because of inadequate charging facilities in Ballygar and Mountbellew, Deputy Daly said.
“It sounds parochial but it’s not parochial because it’s emblematic of an issue in rural areas and transport,” Deputy Daly told the PAC and Commissioner Kelly.
He added that there had been several instances in which gardaí pursuing “serious criminals” had “run out of juice”, leaving the organisation “up for ridicule”.
Deputy Daly pleaded to “get Pat Regan in Ballygar a car” and asked what evaluations were being carried out on the “inadequate kits” and other resources needed to enable gardaí to do their jobs.
In response, Commissioner Kelly described Garda Regan’s experience as “very concerning” and said discussions about An Garda Síochána’s electric vehicle fleet were ongoing with the head of fleet management.
With more than 3,500 electric vehicles in use across the organisation, charging infrastructure remains a “challenge” for An Garda Síochána, Commissioner Kelly added.
He agreed that electric vehicles were better suited to urban environments.