Ford announced in a press release Monday that it has a new police-duty-ready Fusion Hybrid that comes ready to tackle everyday law enforcement duties while saving more gas than other police vehicles.
The car, which is officially named the Police Responder Hybrid Sedan (not a very colorful name), is EPA-rated to do 38 miles per gallon with its 2.0-liter engine and electric motor. As the Blue Oval itself notes in its press release, that’s more than double what the Taurus Police Interceptor is rated for at 18 mpg.
To help achieve such high amounts of efficiency, the car uses its electric system to power the electronics while the car is stationary and shuts off the internal combustion engine. In addition to polluting less, this means that the car’s engine would see a significantly less amount of run hours and the police department would save fuel and money. Not bad.
When it’s not just silently sitting at idle, the Hybrid Sedan can be run in full-electric mode at speeds up to 60 miles per hour.
Though some law enforcement agencies, including the New York Police Department, have taken to using the pre-existing Fusion Hybrid for police work, this new model from Ford is specially fitted by the automaker for the harsh line of work.
The car will be put through the wringer by the Michigan State Police and the Los Angeles Police Department later in 2017. Orders for the Police Responder open in the spring.