New Zealand Police diversifies fleet with ‘ethnic’ community car

The New Zealand Police have revealed a new community car that will be used by Ethnic Services staff in Auckland.

Based on a Hyundai Ioniq 5, the electric car is wrapped in a unique livery that sees it fall in line with the Police’s diversity fleet, which currently includes the Pirihimana (Māori), Va’a (Pasifika), and Rainbow (Pride) vehicles.

Take a close look and you’ll find the greeting “hello” spelled out in 75 different languages spoken by ethnic communities around New Zealand.

According to the official release, the ethnic community car will help increase trust and confidence with the public through inclusion, consultation, and recruitment.

It will also serve as a support tool for the Police while staff are out engaging with ethnic communities.

“We hope this new community car, which is a part of our Police fleet, showcases our dedication and commitment to the diverse communities we serve,” says Andrew Coster, Commissioner of Police.

“This car symbolises our ongoing commitment to inclusion consultation and recruitment by valuing diversity, which is one of our core policing values as an organisation.”

You may remember that the Police selected a number of electric Hyundais for non-operational use late last year, including the Kona and Ioniq 5.

The brightly coloured example you see here is one of those EVs which was converted from the Waitemata District fleet pool. It’s also part of the wider NZ Police electrification project which seeks to reduce the overall fleet’s carbon emissions by 176.1 tonnes annually.