Green cars cops use to nab the fleeting criminals

Priced at $25,391, forty Nissan Altima Hybrids have been introduced as the first alternative drive vehicles into patrol service by the New York Police Department. It offers a mileage of around 35 miles per gallon. The Altima hybrids are manufactured in Smyrna, Tennessee and are fitted with specialized patrol equipments.

The Opel Ampera Green police car moves swiftly without any big sound and produces very low emissions, thus making it ideal for use by the police. It is fitted with dual electric and gasoline engine. This car can travel for about 25-50 miles on electric power. Moreover, the additional 1.4 liter gasoline engine enables it to travel up to 310 miles.

AC Schnitzer Police MINI E R56 is another very efficient electric car used by the police. It has 204 HP of power and can attend the maximum torque of 220Nm. The speed of the car is limited electronically to 152 kilometers per hour and can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 8.5 seconds.

This car equipped with an effective zero emission green technology has been inducted into their fleet by the Thames Valley Police, based in South-West England, for performing 'non emergency' duties. Mitsubishi i-MiEV has a 16 kWh Li-ion battery with 88 cells and can travel up to 100 miles at a top speed of 80mph.

Priced at around $25,770, Toyota Camry hybrid environmentally friendly car has been used by the police in Arkadelphia. It can run upto 23 miles for every galon of gasoline which is significantly more than the 13 miles per galon of mileage obtained by other patrol cars and saves a lot of operation cost. It is also used by the police detectives in Indianapolis .

The Ford Fusion Hybrid Patrol Cars were the first hybrid patrol cars used by the New York Police Department as an attempt to turn the police fleet more eco friendly. Propelled by a 2.5 liter gasoline engine along with an electric motor, this car produces 155 horsepower and runs up to 41 miles per gallon of gasoline. The car has a very impressive fuel economy and is considered to be 'most reliable' for family purposes.

Fully equipped with law enforcement equipments, the Ford Escape Hybrid costs around $50,000 and runs for about 26 miles per gallon of gasoline. Though a bit pricey as compared to Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor which costs about $39,000 when fully equipped, this hybrid car has a better fuel economy and serves as fully marked patrol vehicle.

The Lexus hybrid sedan has a 3.5-liter V6 petrol engine along with a very high output electric motor. It can produce up to 341bhp horsepower and an acceleration up to 0-62mph in 5.9 seconds. In terms of performance, this sedan is at par with V8 petrol engines but consumes less fuel and emits very less pollutants. It can run up to 35.8 miles per gallon.

This car produced by DaimlerChrysler is powered by a fuel cell which runs on hydrogen and, unlike other cars, emits water vapor. In fact, it is the first fuel cell powered car used by any police team in the world. This F-cell car is now used by the Wayne State University Police Department in Detroit as a supervisor's vehicle in and around the campus. Equipped with a third-generation police radio, decals, lights and sirens, the car is also supposed to serve as a live laboratory for the students of WSU College of Engineering Alternative Energy Technology.

The Chevy Impala electric police car can recharge fully in just two hours and costs just about 35 cents for an eight hour of service. This is significantly less than the three to four dollars spent on gasoline vehicles used by the police.The battery of this car can last for about five years. However, it cannot operate during heavy rain as incessant rain can damage the electric circuits.

This might put back the ‘rugged’ image into the domain of electric vehicles, as, by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s decision, NYPD is all set to integrate 70 more EVs into their car fleet. This brings the grand total to 430 electric vehicles, which is certainly in sync with the fact that New York already has the largest municipal electric vehicle fleet in the country. Among these new cars, 50 will be the much hyped (and acclaimed) Chevrolet Volt, which are considered the most fuel efficient compact cars (93 miles per gallon) sold in U.S., as rated by EPA.