Michigan State Police is testing a specially equipped Mustang Mach-E SUV.
Police in the UK are also putting a Mach-E through its paces
Electric police cars should lead to lower ownership costs over the life of the vehicle
Ford has been a major vehicle supplier to law enforcement agencies all over the world for many decades. Now, the company is looking to the future as it proposes electric car for police duty.
As a part of its $30 billion electrification plan, Ford is looking into producing electric cars specifically for use by police forces.
In order to convince agencies of the viability of squad cars powered by batteries, the Dearborn-based manufacturer is lending a Mustang Mach-E to the Michigan State Police to serve as a pilot vehicle.
The results of the tests that will be conducted and the conclusions they lead to will be available to all other law enforcement agencies around the United States in order to let them decide if such a vehicle would be suited to their own reality.
In addition, Ford is doing the same thing in the United Kingdom, were it recently unveiled a police liveried and prepared Mach-E, which it will let the authorities asses for themselves.
The automaker states that it will consider the findings of the Michigan State Police in its exploration of purpose-built electric police vehicles.
In addition to a lower environmental impact, benefits from electric police cars include better acceleration, more interior space and the ability to sneak up on criminals, due to the nearly silent powertrains.
Range might be something that is detrimental to law enforcement use, although Ford doesn’t believe so, stating that batteries now provide enough range to make electric vehicles suitable for any use.
Source: InsideEVs
