The Ford Mustang Mach-E police car just inched closer to reality, as it passed rigorous evaluation.
Oh, how the world has moved on in the past decade. It wasn’t really that long ago that old-school Crown Victorias were roaming city streets across the U.S. They were the backbone of law enforcement agencies from Seattle to Miami, before SUVs became the go-to for the everyday beat. There’s a new twist to the story now, though, as electric SUVs could soon join the motor pool. As the rest of the industry leans toward widespread EV adoption, so too will police forces as Michigan tests out a Ford Mustang Mach-E police vehicle.
A pilot program to determine the Mach-E’s feasibility as a police cruiser is ongoing. A week ago, Ford Motor Company submitted the car for testing, saying that it “will use the pilot program testing as a benchmark while it continues to explore purpose-built electric police vehicles in the future.” American police departments aren’t the only ones testing that premise, either. British agencies could soon see Mach-Es enter their fleets, as well. Not only do police vehicles remain an enormous market for Ford, but the push toward zero emissions could soon supplant the models we recognize now — Explorers, mainly — with something like a Mach-E police utility vehicle, or even interceptors.
At the moment, Ford Motor Company supplies about two-thirds of vehicles in U.S. law enforcement fleets, as pointed out by the Detroit Free Press.
CEO Jim Farley tweeted Friday about the Mustang Mach-E as an all-electric police vehicle, saying: “Another real-world application to help law enforcement agencies reduce their fuel usage and CO2 emissions.” Naturally, that’s not the only goal, as Farley ends on the note that the Mach-E police car is “freaking FAST”.
The Michigan State Police should publish full test results on their website later this fall.
