Is it a golf buggy? Is it a milk float? No, it's the first all-green vehicle to be used by UK police

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 14:14 GMT, 26 July 2008

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With a top speed of around 30mph, Gene Hunt wouldn't be seen dead in it - but this car is the first 100 per cent electric vehicle to be used by a British police force.

Resembling a golf buggy, the Gem Car is being tested out by Sussex Police.

But officers are unlikely to be racing after getaway cars in it like DCI Hunt and his cronies from TV's Life On Mars and Ashes To Ashes.

The Gem is being tried out to see if it could become a key part of community policing, and has been loaned to the Brighton and Hove division to enable neighbourhood officers to travel to street briefings and make local visits.

Green machine: Community officer Kelly Joel shows off Sussex Police's borrowed Gem Car - a far cry from the fast and dirty cars favoured by Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) and Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes), below in TV's Ashes To Ashes

Ashes to Ashes (PHILIP GLENISTER as DCI Gene Hunt and KEELEY HAWES as DI Alex Drake)

Sussex is believed to be the first force in the UK to be using a vehicle which has zero emissions and could run purely on solar power, a police spokesman said.

The two-seater Gem Cars are already used in the United States by police forces in New York, Los Angeles and Miami.

The Gem - short for Global Electric Motorcars, part of the Chrysler group - costs £12,500 and is classified as an electric quadracycle, so does not need to display a front registration plate.

Brighton and Hove's version has full Sussex Police livery - though no blue lights.

Police chiefs say it is perfect for local officers to navigate through built-up parts of Brighton and Hove, with a large storage space and a 50-mile range before its batteries need to be recharged.

More than 40,000 Gem Cars have been sold worldwide and they have been used by Nasa. They are exempt from road tax and the London congestion charge, according to the manufacturer's website.

Sussex Police's trial of the Gem Car will last for just over a week, and it will be in evidence at the annual Gay Pride event in Preston Park next Saturday.

A police spokesman said that following the trial, a decision will be taken on whether to invest in one of the vehicles permanently.