That was then (at least on TV, but not only on TV . . .)
This is now (in reality) (via the Daily Telegraph):
Electric police cars are running out of charge when responding to emergencies because the blue lights and sirens drain the batteries, it has been suggested. Officers using environmentally friendly vehicles in rural areas are also struggling to locate charging points, raising questions about their effectiveness. The vast majority of constabularies in England and Wales now include electric vehicles in their fleet, with the Metropolitan Police pledging to be 100 per cent electric by 2030. Despite being one of the country’s smallest forces, Gloucestershire Constabulary has the second biggest number of electric vehicles in the country. With almost 90 battery powered police cars on the county’s roads, electric vehicles make up a fifth of the force’s entire fleet. But the local Police and Crime Commissioner, Chris Nelson, has acknowledged there are issues with the cars responding to some emergencies. He said vehicles using their lights, radio and heater were in danger of “running out of puff”. . . . The Government has pledged to ban the production of all new diesel and petrol vehicles by 2030, leaving police forces urgently looking for alternatives. But the increasing amount of technology carried in them — such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition computers and sophisticated radio equipment — affects battery range.
Oh.
When central planners start insisting on the adoption of a technology before it is ready for prime time, this is the sort of thing that will happen.