America’s first electric vehicle for transporting prisoners

Going to jail is never a good thing, but your next trip could be a breath of fresh air when Cobb County, Georgia gets the first electric car for inmates.

The first all-electric transport for prisoners has been deployed

You heard right. Prisoners will now breathe zero-emission air on their way to prison with a new all-electric prisoner transport vehicle.

The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office says the new electric transport vehicles can transport inmates up to 200 miles on a full charge. The 2022 Envirotech Cutaway/Logistics Van, an electric van with an “inmate transport facility,” is the first in the United States, according to the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office.

The Logistics van EVT has a top speed of 62 mph and a battery capacity of 102 kWh, as described on the company’s website.

With 399 cubic feet of cargo space (high roof model), the electric van is suitable for transporting prisoners. Other than that, features are relatively standard, such as power windows, keyless entry and air conditioning are the basics.

Al Curtis, Cobb County’s fleet director, explains how the introduction of electric models can reduce costs, stating:

The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office and Fleet Management strive to be good stewards of our citizens and the environment. We are constantly striving to reduce operating costs, cost per mile and the county’s carbon footprint.

The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office announced an electric vehicle for inmates along with a new Ford Mustang Mach-E. According to Cobb County siteits fleet consists of 1,002 cars, 863 trucks, 45 motorcycles, 29 electric cars, four electric motorcycles and now one electric prisoner transport vehicle.

Electrek’s Take

I think it’s great that Cobb County is transporting its inmates in electric vehicles to cut costs and reduce emissions. I’m all for EV adoption.

Perhaps school districts should take note that Cobb County transports inmates in zero-emission clean electric vehicles. Meanwhile, children in many school districts are still breathing the fumes of outdated big yellow diesel buses.

According to the World Resources Institute, only 38 US states have committed to operating electric school buses. EV school bus tracker. There are about 500,000 school buses in the United States, but only 12,700 – less than 3% of the total number of buses – intend to go electric.

Good for Cobb County for taking steps, even if it’s just one start, toward zero emissions. Now is the time for state and school district leaders to step up and do the same with school buses.

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