A fleet of new all-electric Nissan Leafs has been turned into police vehicles in Japan

We have often reported on how Tesla’s all-electric vehicles are becoming surprisingly, increasingly popular with police departments all around the world.

But now police departments are now embracing electrification with several other electric vehicles.

Last month we reported on the all-electric Chevy Bolt EV becoming a police car and now there is a whole fleet of new Nissan Leafs that will be used for policing in Japan.

The rollout of the new Nissan Leaf, which was launched late year, is just starting to ramp up in Europe and in the US, but it has been in full swing in Japan for a while. Now, the Police in Fukuoka are even getting on board with the new electric vehicle.

They have taken delivery of 22 Nissan Leafs earlier this week.

In a press release, Nissan said that the vehicles will be used for public relations and as patrol vehicles (translated from Japanese):

As a public relations enlightenment support car (so-called “blue pato”) responsible for crime prevention in each region of Fukuoka prefecture, we used a total of 22 new Nissan Leafs at the Fukuoka Traffic Safety Association all together. The association-sponsored “Blue Pato departure ceremony” was held as the 4/3 spring traffic safety campaign began.

Nissan released a video of the new Leaf police vehicles hitting the road for the first time:

Electrek’s Take

The requirements for a police cruiser are often still too difficult to reach for most EVs.

Tesla’s vehicles could technically fit the bill in terms of range, speed and size, but aside from the Luxembourg Police who converted two Tesla Model S sedans to use as patrol cars, most other departments are only testing them as patrol vehicles at this point.

But most EVs, like the Nissan Leaf, are perfect for administrative and public outreach purposes.

The LAPD got on board with a large fleet of all-electric BMW i3 vehicles, but unfortunately, they are apparently barely using them.

Hopefully, the authorities in Fukuoka make better use of their fleet of Leafs.