Police car
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If there are two things you learn about police cars from watching cop shows on TV, it's that they should be both fast and stealthy to sneak quickly into sketchy situations. What better option than a Tesla Model X? That's what the police in the Australian state of Victoria are thinking at the moment, anyway. The Victoria police department just added a new right-hand drive Model X Long Range to its Highway Patrol fleet to see if it makes the grade. It's the first electric police car in Australia, though not the first Tesla police car worldwide. Tesla has been focusing on the police-cruiser...
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Ford requests exception to electric-car noise rule for police cruisers
It's tough to sneak up on bad guys in a loud car. That's Ford's argument in requesting an exception to a long-awaited rule that will require electric cars to make noise when they're driving at low speeds, according to a report in The Verge. First proposed in 2010, the rule has had a long gestation...
Eric C. Evarts -
Ford confirms new hybrid Explorer for police; is this how SUV buyers will embrace hybrids?
Police work may be ideal proving grounds to convince skeptical shoppers that hybrids can consistently perform when duty calls. Despite skepticism from some that electrification could add complexity and maintenance costs to large fleets, Ford confirmed Tuesday that its next-generation Police...
Aaron Cole -
Is this the country's first Chevrolet Bolt EV police car? (updated with video)
Using electric cars as police vehicles has some distinct advantages. Among them are near-silent operation, maximum acceleration from 0 rpm, and a novelty factor that can lead to friendly, beneficial interactions between officers and citizens. Now, the small Maryland city of Hyattsville, a suburb of...
John Voelcker -
LAPD's unused electric cars gather dust sitting in garage, but why?
Anyone who remembers the epic, metallic-tasting, technicolor smog in the Los Angeles Basin found into the 1990s understands why air quality matters there. While the worst of the uncontrolled tailpipe emissions have now been greatly reduced, and the air is cleaner, the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide...
John Voelcker -
What does it take to turn a Ford Fusion Hybrid into a Police Responder?
The hybrid mid-size sedans sold today by Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, and Toyota are all tuned to provide maximum fuel economy. So what did it take to fashion a standard Ford Fusion Hybrid sedan into the 2018 Ford Police Responder Hybrid Sedan that Ford introduced yesterday? The company's...
John Voelcker -
Ford made a big splash last year when it announced it would launch 13 new electrified vehicles within five years. That was widely misreported as 13 new "electric" vehicles, which is to say either battery-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles—which isn't the case. It includes conventional hybrids as well. Today, Ford announced the second of the 13, which turns out to be a ruggedized version of its Ford Fusion Hybrid mid-size sedan that's been adapted for heavy-duty police use. DON'T MISS: LAPD Gets Tesla Model S, BMW i3 Electric Cars As Police Cruisers (Sep 2015) The Ford Police Responder...
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LA police to buy 100 BMW i3 electric cars for department use
The LAPD will buy 100 BMW i3 electric cars after testing one for a few months.
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla pursuing police cruiser market with Model S: report
Would the Tesla Model S make a good police car?
Stephen Edelstein -
Hybrid Police Cars Replacing Crown Vics: No Longer An Anomaly
Toyota claims hybrid police cars are a viable replacement for the old standard, the Ford Crown Victoria.
Stephen Edelstein -
Italy's Crisp Carabinieri Get New Patrol Cars: Tiny Electric Minicars
The Mitsubishi i-MiEV joins Italy's Carabinieri.
Stephen Edelstein -
Even Police Cars Can Get 30 MPG Now (Non-Pursuit, Highway Cycle)
Ford is putting its 2.0-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost engine in a police car.
Stephen Edelstein -
Log one more startup car company the U.S. Department of Energy has declined to fund. The latest entry on the lengthening list that includes Virtual Vehicles Co. (renamed NextCar), Aptera Motors, and Bright Automotive is Carbon Motors of Connersville, Indiana. The five-year-old startup proposed to build a carbon-fiber police cruiser, solely offered to law enforcement buyers, and power it with a diesel engine sourced from BMW. Carbon had unveiled its E7 four-door sedan, featuring an aluminum space-frame, four-wheel independent suspension, and 50-50 weight distribution, late in 2008. That same...
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V-6 Engines Aren’t Just Cleaner, They’re Fast Too, Say Police
For years, Police forces across the U.S. drove specially built Ford Interceptors based on the humble Ford Crown Victoria. Fitted with a powerful V-8 engine, they formed the backbone of many police fleets. In the past year however, Ford’s Interceptor has undergone a change, replacing the aged...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Police Spotted In Electric Car Charging Space: Nobody Charged
Many town and city councils across the U.S. are introducing legislation to enable electric car owners to park for free as a way of encouraging more people to make the switch from gasoline to plug-in cars. Normally, these free parking spaces include access to a suitable level 2 charging station...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Chevrolet Impala Improves Police Fleet Gas Mileage By 3 MPG
As we reported earlier this year, gas mileage is increasingly becoming a concern for not only individuals but corporations and government agencies as well, including most police forces. While the federal government is looking to improve the gas mileage of its fleets by switching to smaller cars and...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
High Gas Mileage: Now It's Even Crucial For Cop Cars
Not too long ago, acceleration and top speed may have been the most crucial criteria when picking a new police car but with gas prices continuing to creep higher requirements have changed, even in this field. In the past, the standard issue for a police car was a big and brawny rear-wheel drive...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Video: Really Bad Prius Driver Slams Police Car, Then Tree
For all the grief Toyota Prius hybrid drivers get, you'd think they were some deranged combination of green storm troopers and mentally defective traffic impediments. But every now and then, a Prius driver does do something jaw-droppingly idiotic. Take, for instance, the unidentified (and possibly...
John Voelcker -
As New York City works aggressively to reduce its carbon footprint and cut exhaust emissions, it has encouraged large fleets to switch to hybrids. From utility ConEd to the fleets of yellow cabs, more and more hybrids are showing up on city streets. The latest large fleet to go greener is the New York Police Department, which will add 200 Ford Fusion Hybrid sedans and Ford Escape Hybrid crossovers to its fleet this year alone. The new vehicles will double the department's fleet of hybrids to roughly 400. The NYPD runs a large number of Ford Crown Victoria full-size sedans, one of Ford's most...
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Carbon Cop Cars To Go Green With BMW Clean Diesel Engines
Many European countries use BMW sedans as patrol and pursuit cars. Now, BMW says it will sell more than 240,000 engines to U.S. police-car startup Carbon Motors for that company's cruiser. The big shock? They're diesel engines. Specifically, BMW's 3.0-liter twin-turbo straight-six clean diesel, as...
John Voelcker