Ford’s popular police-spec Explorer gets some quality-of-life updates for the new model year.
For the past few years, law enforcement have been patrolling the streets in the sixth-generation Explorer (or Police Interceptor Utility, as this model’s officially known). Following the civilian version getting a host of updates for 2025, Ford is also making some updates for the folks in law enforcement — though you probably wouldn’t tell from the outside.
On the whole, most of the updates for the 2025 Ford Police Interceptor Utility come down to tech improvements, which I’ll get into in a moment. That said, one of the options that cops nationwide will enjoy and everyday drivers won’t, at least for now, is the 3.3-liter-equipped hybrid powertrain. While the automaker says that decision came down to supply constraints, it makes sense to retain the option for police fleets given its use case, with long idle times contributing to fuel savings (and lower costs) to run vehicles. According to Ford’s announcement, governments save an average of 838 gallons each year with the hybrid model, and save $17,500 in fuel costs over a 6-year span (assuming gas costs $3.50 a gallon).
Two other powertrains are also available to law enforcement buyers. The base option is a non-hybridized version of the 3.3-liter V6, putting out 285 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque. Or, for those who want their Police Interceptor to be more of an interceptor, there’s also the ST’s 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6 putting out 400 horsepower and 415 lb-ft of torque.
The 2025 Ford Police Interceptor Utility keeps things pretty basic inside, as well, with the old-style portrait-style infotainment screen to accommodate the Bluetooth-connected keyboard and lights, sirens, etc. on the center console. Behind the column-mounted shifter, though, there’s now a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster like the civilian-spec version gets, with a certified speedometer.
Other upgrades include a standard Police Perimeter Alert system. Like that name implies, it looks out for “moving threats” around the vehicle, and will activate the rear camera, sound a chime, roll up the windows and lock the doors when anyone comes close. Police Engine Idle is another quality-of-life feature that lets officers take the key with them and lock the vehicle, while still letting the powertrain idle to power onboard equipment. Cops can also enjoy more driver assistance features like automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring with cross-traffic alert, reverse brake assist, rear parking sensors and rear cross-traffic braking, like with the standard models.
As you’d expect, law enforcement gets a few extra available features not available with the run-of-the-mill Explorer. One is Manual Police Pursuit mode, which “puts the vehicle into a high-performance tuning configuration” through a button on the steering wheel. The Police Dark Car feature is a one-button solution to keep the car blacked out on a stakeout. Ballistic panels are available for the front doors in two different configurations: The first (Level III+) resists gunfire from handgun and non-armor-piercing rounds up to .30 caliber, while the second (Level IV+) protects against armor-piercing rifle ammunition (again, up to .30 caliber).
To get in the back, Ford uses the Police Accessory Independent Timed-Release Output as an extra layer of security. From the point an officer pushes an overhead button, they have 45 seconds to walk around and press the button on the liftgate to actually open it, so no random person can open the tailgate while an officer’s sitting inside the car, for example.
The 2025 Ford Police Interceptor Utility is shipping out to law enforcement agencies nationwide right now. And while you probably still don’t want to see one pulling you over, maybe the officer will cut you some slack if you ask them how they’re liking the new features.
