Hybrid 5-0h! Police Cruisers Go Green
Published May 7, 2008
Westwood, New Jersey Police Chief Regino gets his mug shot taken with his Ford Escape Hybrid police cruiser. The Escape Hybrid, which averages 20 miles per gallon, replaced a Crown Victoria that was getting 6 mpg.
In a personality shift that would make Madonna jealous, the hybrid gas-electric vehicle is being transformed from ecoweenie-mobile to lean green crime-fighting machine. Law enforcement departments across the country are considering the use of hybrid vehicles as police cruisers. It’s a logical move that follows the same path as many mass transit agencies switching to hybrid buses and fleet vehicles—to save on fuel costs and reduce their environmental impact.
Police cruisers are on patrol for most of their shifts. Therefore, the potential fuel savings from hybrids are significant. Hybrids are commonly replacing the mainstay law enforcement vehicle, the Ford Crown Victoria, which is powered by a V8 engine that ekes out fuel economy in the low teens or high single digits.
Hawaii’s Honolulu Police Department (HPD) will soon be starting with seven hybrid vehicles, including six sedans and a SUV. The likeliest sedan candidate is the Toyota Prius, while the Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid are the usual suspects for the hybrid SUV. HPD Chief Boisse Correa said he is not worried about the hybrids speed because the department thinks high-speed chases are too dangerous, anyway.
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Yeah, definitely need a hybrid with Cop Shocks, Cop Tires, Cop Motor.
If the seats in the Ford SUV trio are still like the ones in the 2005 Excape hybrid I test drove (in May 2006 - still on lot, unsold) then they will need to get real seats as well. I can't imagine sitting in that seat for more than an hour let alone a whole shift.
Since there's no source for this information, I'm going to go ahead and take a guess - The Onion, maybe? I was suspicious when they said "HPD Chief Boisse Correa said he is not worried about the hybrids speed because the department thinks high-speed chases are too dangerous, anyway."
But I was totally convinced when they said:
“Our boats burn through more fuel during a single patrol shift than a standard police cruiser," said veteran marine officer Vincent Biondo, in an interview with Hybridcars.com. “A hybrid boat could cut consumption in half.”
Have you heard of a lot of "hybrid boats"?
Police departments might benefit a lot from a "light", "performance hybrid". The police are one of the very few categories of drivers that actually need really fast cars - both to get to the scene of an incident quickly, and so they can keep up with crooks in a chase. "Gee, we would have caught the bank robber, but he had a really fast car" just isn't going to cut it.
But the one thing that cop cars do that regular cars don't is that they spend a *TON* of time idling. I've heard people who worked for the city say that a car with 100,000 miles on it has actually spent half it's time running but idling (and not cranking up the mileage). The police could probably save a ton of gas with a light hybrid that could turn off the engine when the car isn't moving, but start it up again as soon as you hit the gas.
On an island there is little need for high speed chases. Mainland cops won't adopt fuel sipping hybrid (prius, escape). They might go with a Tahoe. Since with the number of miles they drive any savings is worth it.
Skeptic I don't believe you.
While I can see the benefit of a hybrid cop car while they sit idling (engine stop), I don't think a hybrid is a very good candidate otherwise. We all know hybrid drivers have to baby a hybrid to get good economy, which doesn't seem to match with cops driving styles. "Well sir, I arrived late to the crime scene because I was trying to maximize fuel economy with pulse-n-glide, light acceleration, and making sure I didn't exceed 55-mph...".
I agree with the guy who said a performance or mild-hybrid might be a better option. I see tons of Chevy Malibu Cop cars... just order the hybrid version.
A diesel car might do as well... doesn't use hardly any fuel while idling. It's also a very good cruising engine... and driving fast doesn't kill fuel economy nearly as quickly...
There are many applications in law enforcement that do not require a high performance auto. Traffic details, detective work, transports etc.
The Chevy Mailbu, in any flavor, is not really a great choice for the average patrol car. Most departments have a criteria for cruisers, real wheel drive, and quick 0-60 times, top end is not that important, most people pull over when the lights come on. You just have to catch up to them from a stopped position. A police package in a hybrid would ideally have the radio/lights/computer run off the high voltage battery. That way when the battery is getting depleted the engine would start on it's own.
Steve (ex cop)
Other advantages:
I'll bet cops on beat would just love a car that can prowl around and sneak up on situations on electric drive with ZERO engine noise.
And same in being able to wait ready for extended periods without needing the time or attention drawing of restarting the engine when suddenly needed.
And like most applications, they probably also need the high end horsepower only for the rare burst of acceleration and not for extended load pulling or hill climbing. So again, an appropriate application for electric assist to a smaller, lighter, more efficient engine.
A prius with a bigger engine, probably a small 2.5 or 3.5 turbocharged V8 or V6. A prius would be a good candidate because it's very aerodynamic. Andy made a good point that the electric motor would be good in sneaking up on the bad guys. Cylinder deactivation when full cylinders aren't needed would help, but if you needed extra cyliders they would be there. These would help efficiency and still provide a lot of power. Or we could what Italy does and call in Lamborghini cop cars for the high-speed chase.
Well, since cop cars do a lot of idling, they will need a bigger battery than what's in a TCH. Especially if they have the AC on, that battery will need to be a much bigger depletion type battery.
Giant, remember that these are drive train batteries we're talking about. They can move the entire car at ~25 mph. Turning the compressor looks fairly small compared to that so you might be surprised how long they could run it without the generator having to kick on.
Tesla Motors has remarked that if you left their Roadster (a full electric) in a parking lot with its lights on, it would take around a month before the lights died.
It's a different paradigm and the old assumptions and limitations don't necessarily apply.
A Tesla has no normal battery. A Tesla can go at Corvette speeds for over 100 miles on battery only. The Volt is shooting for 40 miles in economy mode. A Prius can't go over 5 miles using only the battery.
Police cars not only have headlights, but have 10-20 flashing lights, a full computer with monitor, wireless connection to the network, police radio, and siren.
Hybrid boats are mainly used for fishing. People add an electric troller motor to boats to slowly navigate while fishing. When it's time to leave, they fire up the ole internal combusion engine.
Non-nuclear submarines are hybrids: diesel when on surface, and electric when submerged.
aassss iffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff check oult the peugot 308 deisel electric hybrid..... alot better then gas electric. have a look its simple y would anyone go back to petril electric or gas electric
Its a good idea.
These police vehicles travel atleast 30,000 miles with most of them in and around cities and with gas at $3.6/gallon they can easily get the return on investment.
Taxis can also use Hybrids. NYC already has plans to phase out non-hybrids with Hybrids by 2012.
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