Crime & Safety
LAPD Electrifies LA's Famous Car Chases
The LAPD is becoming the first major department to add the pursuit-rated hybrid-electric plug-in vehicles to its fleet.
LOS ANGELES, CA — The Los Angeles Police Department is poised Monday to become one of the first departments in the country to use the new Ford Fusion hybrid pursuit-rated police car, the Responder.
Los Angeles was one of a handful of departments to test the vehicle for Ford, finding it pursuit-ready, according to Ford.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Ford’s police programs department spokesman Arie Groeneveld said the Responder goes from zero to 60 mph at roughly the same rate as the Crown Victoria.
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“Cities have been asking us for solutions to reduce carbon emissions and costs, and agencies have been asking for greener police cars and greener pursuit vehicles,” said Kevin Koswick, director of Ford’s lease and remarking operations in North America. told the newspaper “We saw a need and we thought we could fulfill it.”
The vehicle, which is expected to join the LAPD fleet, next year, is expected to cost more than other police cars, but proponents predict that gas savings will make up the cost difference within the first year.
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Chief Charlie Beck was on hand outside police headquarters when the wraps were removed from the new Police Responders.
Beck lamented the discontinuance a few years ago of the iconic Ford Crown Victoria, a model that is still in use by his department and many others.
"Hopefully, this becomes the next iconic police vehicle," he said.
The special Ford Fusions are built for patrol work with a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder gas engine and electric motor powered by a 1.4 kilowatt lithium ion battery. The vehicle can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds and gets 38 miles to a gallon of gasoline, according to gadgetgestures.com.
LAPD officials have not said how many of the vehicles the department will purchase and when they will go into service. But the LAPD is committed to purchasing 300 hybrid and hybrid-electric plug-in vehicles by 2020, police spokesman Josh Rubenstein told the Los Angeles Times.
City News Service and Patch staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report; Photo: Shutterstock
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