Plug-in patrol: Queensland Police using MG HS PHEV in move to electrify fleet with hybrid cars

Police in Queensland will be driving more and more kilometres using electric power, as the state’s police service introduces additional hybrid cars into its fleet.

Queensland Police Service announced it will add 45 new MG HS plug-in hybrids to its fleet as the organisation moves to make almost all of its cars electrified.

“Once again, the Queensland Police is leading the way in greening its fleet with hybrid electric vehicles,” Police Minister Mark Ryan said.

“We know this is the way of the future and I commend the QPS for ensuring its huge vehicle fleet is high-tech and sustainable.”

He said late in 2022 that QPS has around three quarters of its fleet electrified, with a ‘hybrid-first’ policy for acquiring new cars.

“I am proud to advise… a remarkable 71 per cent of police sedans and SUVs are now low emission hybrid vehicles,” he said. 

“Police will be adopting a ‘hybrid first’ policy for its sedans and SUV fleet, and will progressively replace all non-hybrids with new, more efficient hybrid vehicles.”

The MG HS additions to the fleet wear Aboriginal artworks along with the QPS logo, which the force said in a statement was created after “consultation with First Nations artists”. It’s not clear whether First Nations artists were commissioned to create the works.

The vehicles will be used by the QPS’s Police Liaison Officers, who the service says work with “culturally specific communities to foster cooperation and understanding”.

Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll says she expects the vehicles to be “well received by the local communities” because of the artwork used on the hybrid SUVs.

“The community love to see our police out on patrol, keeping our community safe and with this new high-vis design, they won’t miss us,” Commissioner Carroll said.