SINGAPORE – A fleet of 19 high-performance electric vehicles (EVs) will be progressively introduced to the Traffic Police’s Expressway Patrol Car fleet from the second half of 2025.

These are specially ordered Polestar 2 EVs that are adapted to be highway patrol cars following a tender called in 2023 to add EVs to the existing fleet.

With the new vehicles, the Singapore Police Force becomes the first Home Team department to use EVs in its operations.

The Polestar 2 has faster acceleration than the existing BMW 325d and Volvo S80 models used by the Traffic Police, taking 4.5 seconds to get to 100kmh from rest – more than three seconds quicker than the Volvo S80. Its top speed is lower, at 205kmh, while the BMW maxes out at 245kmh.

Expressway patrol cars are used to show police presence, attend to accidents on the road and help drivers in distress, and take traffic enforcement measures against errant motorists, according to Assistant Superintendent Sam Tai, the deputy officer in charge of the Traffic Police’s Special Operations Team. He was addressing the media at a preview of the new vehicle’s features held at the Traffic Police headquarters at 10 Ubi Avenue on April 10.

Finished in white with orange and blue reflective livery, the Polestar 2 is the first expressway patrol car to use run-flat tyres. This allows the car to be driven up to 80km after a puncture.

The Polestar 2 on sale to the public does not come with such tyres. The cars used by the Traffic Police have solid metal roofs, instead of the panoramic glass roof of the Polestar model sold in Singapore.

Modifications to transform the Polestar 2 for highway patrol duties include fitting an emergency light bar and external message board on top of the car to display warning messages to road users.

For security, the online connectivity feature, which the carmaker has built into the Polestar 2 to allow for remote software updates, is disabled.

In the cabin, a steel partition separates the rear section to accommodate a person in custody.

The front seats are modified so that the officers, who wear an equipment belt, can sit more comfortably. The upholstery used is more hard-wearing than the supple leather found on the standard Polestar 2.