Ford’s new Police Responder Hybrid Sedan and F-150 Police Responder have officially become the first pursuit-rated hybrid vehicle and the first pickup truck, respectively, passing the Michigan State Police’s grueling, independent testing regimen and earning the agency’s stamp of approval. That regimen included 32-lap “pursuit simulations” at Michigan’s Grattan Raceway to test overall durability – a trial that would have gotten the better of most production automobiles.
“Our new Fusion-based Police Responder Hybrid Sedan is quicker than our legendary V8-powered Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, while offering fuel efficiency that’s estimated to be double that,” says Ford Police Brand Marketing Manager Stephen Tyler. “Plus, our new F-150 Police Responder offers police customers both on-road pursuit and off-road capability.”
In fact, the Hybrid Sedan beat the old Crown Vic’s timed sprint to 100 mph by more than a second, doing it in 23.1 seconds vs. 24.4 seconds. And where the older model drank a gallon of gas every 19 miles on the combined cycle, the new Hybrid is projected to receive a 38-mpg rating in the same testing – literally double the Crown Victoria’s fuel economy.
Order banks for the new Ford Police Responder Hybrid Sedan and F-150 Police Responder are open now to US law enforcement agencies. We civilians might have to wait a few years before decommissioned examples start making their way into the used market.
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