Police departments across the country have strict requirements to ensure that the cars the cops drive can actually perform as required should they be required to pursue a suspect. That’s one of the reasons why we haven’t really seen hybrid cars being inducted into the pursuit fleet even though some departments have been using them for non-pursuit duties like parking. Ford’s new cop car, called the Police Responder Hybrid Sedan, is going to change that.
Ford says that this is the industry’s first pursuit-rated hybrid police car and that it’s going to make its debut in New York and Los Angeles. The company says that this hybrid car is going to provide an EPA-estimated combined gas mileage of 38 miles per gallon which is double that of today’s Police Interceptor that’s kitted with a 3.7 liter V6 engine.
This is the first hybrid sedan with full pursuit capabilities, meaning that it has been certified by police agencies to be tough enough to handle pursuits for longer periods at varying speeds and even being capable of tackling obstacles.
The car is powered by an Atkinson-cycle 2.0 liter engine hooked up to a single electric motor that takes its power from a lithium-ion battery. It can run in battery-only mode up to 60 mph and when required, it can switch to maximum performance mode in which the engine and battery work together at peak acceleration levels.
Police departments nationwide who order this car will get it next summer, according to Ford.
Filed in . Read more about Ford. Source: media.ford