Wilton Police Buy All-New Hybrid Cop Car

WILTON, CT — The police have a new police car.

The Wilton Police Department announced Monday that it is one of the first agencies in Connecticut to purchase the new Ford Police Interceptor Utility Hybrid (pictured above), the first-ever pursuit-rated police utility vehicle with a standard hybrid engine.

According to Ford, the new hybrid model has an EPA-estimated rating of 23 mpg city/24 mpg highway/24 mpg combine, which is a 41 percent improvement over the current Police Interceptor Utility equipped with a conventional 3.7-liter gas engine.

According to Car and Driver, the high electrical demands of law enforcement and communication equipment found in cop cars force their drivers to leave them running for lengthy "mundane" periods when they are not chasing down bad guys. Ford is pitching its latest police interceptor as a solution to that problem. The police are estimating that the new model will save taxpayers between $3,500 and $5,700 per vehicle in fuel costs annually.

The new hybrid powertrain of Ford's new police car allows the engine to shut off for extended periods while powering electrical equipment via its lithium-ion battery. Better mileage and reduced carbon dioxide emissions reductions are the result.

This past fall members of the Wilton officers were able to test drive the new hybrid model, and were impressed with the performance of the vehicle, according to a news release. "The new hybrid does not sacrifice any of the performance that we would get with the traditional police vehicle," the police spokesperson wrote.