US Police Are About To Get Greener, Thanks To Ford Hybrid Pursuit Vehicles

Ford Motor Company this week announced that it will introduce two new hybrid Police Pursuit Vehicles (PPVs), which will count toward the automaker’s goal of putting 13 new electrified nameplates on the road by 2020, announced back in December of 2015.

Ford has released no information regarding what form the two hybrid PPV models will take, but the company did mention in a release that one will be built entirely in Chicago, while the other will be upfitted there. Both the Taurus sedan and the Explorer crossover, which form the bases of Ford’s current Police Interceptor Sedan and Utility models, are built at Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant. The city is also home to the Chicago Modification Center, which performs all of Ford’s factory police upfittings.

The addition of hybrid powertrains to Ford’s PPV offerings could be an alluring one to (esp. cash-strapped) municipalities looking to save on fleetwide fueling costs. Electric motors are also known for their low-RPM torque, and could prove useful to help law enforcement officers get up to speed more quickly to catch speeding motorists.