More and more police departments around the world are trialing plug-in hybrids and fully electric BEVs; a move that’s inevitable in certain countries due to looming emissions regulations and rules that will eventually outlaw new internal combustion engine vehicles.
The UK police force has seemingly been more engaged with EV trials than most. In June we profiled a Tesla Model 3 police car that was under evaluation with police in the UK. Now, Ford has built its own electric police car for trials, based on the Mustang Mach-E.
Ford says the test car “was built following many enquiries from UK police forces looking for greener solutions”. The Metropolitan Police Force has already had a go with it, and six other police organisations across the UK are queued up for their turn.
Based on an all-wheel drive Standard Range Mach-E variant, the cop car adds the obligatory police livery and light bar, plus additional mounting pods and brackets inside.
The lightbar raised a curious issue for Ford to sort out, in regards to where it would draw power for the unit. “The vehicle range is uncompromised as the blue light equipment is being drawn from the vehicle’s 12V battery and not the drive battery,” said Terry Adams of Ford of Britain and Ireland.
“In future developments we will look to increase this battery capacity to allow for additional equipment to be fitted,” he added. It’s worth noting that the bulbs in the lightbar are low-consumption LEDs designed to use as little energy as possible.
Paired head-to-head with the aforementioned Tesla Model 3, you’d think the Mustang would probably have a slight edge. It features a more commodious back seat and a larger boot. Its extra ride-height puts it in good stead for any driving on unpaved surfaces, too.
Long-range models pack more range than the Model 3, too. Ford already has some existing relationships with various UK police organisations, given that it already supplies Ford Ranger and Ford Mondeo pursuit vehicles to multiple divisions.
Can New Zealand expect to see plug-in police cars on our streets in the near future? Well, most likely yes. The New Zealand Police has already confirmed that it’s evaluating the Skoda Superb iV PHEV plug-in hybrid. You can read our review of the new Superb plug-in in the September issue of NZ Autocar.
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