Mérida police first in Latin America with electric patrol cars

Mérida police are first in the nation with electric patrol cars. Photo: Ayuntamiento

Mérida, Yucatán — Municipal police here are the first in Latin America to have electric cars as part of their fleet.

Four zero-emission vehicles were handed over to the local force, along with a battery-charging station that will be available for public use as well.

Charging stations, at a Mérida police station parking lot, will be available for public use. Photo: Ayuntamiento

Two are Nissans Leafs, which fit up to five passengers, and two are Renault Twizys, which seat two people. 

The tourist-friendly vehicles will be used by police to monitor the Centro Histórico. Aside from saving money in fuel cost, the vehicles don’t give off gas fumes.

The Twizys in particular give police another advantage. Over in the United Arab Emerates, police in Dubai have used Twizy for over four years. The model was chosen for its agility and versatility, able to go down narrow streets and passageways that are inaccessible to other vehicles. In Valencia, Spain, Twizys are used to patrol pedestrian malls for the same reasons.

Designed and manufactured in Valladolid, Spain, the Twizy is legally classified in Europe as a quadricycle, with maximum range of 100 km, or 62 miles. The more car-like Leaf can go 172 km, or 107 miles, on a single charge. Since its inception six years ago, the Leaf has become the world’s all-time best-selling highway-capable electric car.

They are part of the same Mérida’s environmental policy that has bolted 256 solar panels to the Municipal Palace roof and planted 60,000 trees throughout the city.

 

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