Following Tesla’s lead, Ford has developed a Mustang Mach-E police car that will be trialed at police forces across the United Kingdom (UK).
The bright yellow and blue Mach-E was unveiled this week at the Emergency Service Show in Birmingham. According to Ford, the vehicle was put together after requests from several UK police forces seeking a more environmentally friendly solution to their current police cars.
In a press release, the automaker said the Metropolitan Police Force has already tested out the Mach-E patrol car. They were impressed enough with the trial that they have now “requested a full evaluation of the market concept.”
The lineup of police forces waiting to trail the Mach-E is already seven deep, with the Sussex, Surrey, South Wales, Dyfed Powys, Devon & Cornwall and Police Scotland forces all expressing interest in the electric SUV.
The initial concept is a Standard Range all-wheel drive (AWD) version of the Mach-E. Based on how the testing goes, Ford is also planning to develop a version using their Extended Range variant in both AWD and rear-wheel drive (RWD) options.
Safeguard SVP converted the Mach-E for police use by outfitting it with mounting pods and brackets for regular equipment. The blue LED lights are also connected to the 12V battery to ensure the vehicle’s range is unaffected.
“The vehicle range is uncompromised as the blue light equipment is being drawn from the vehicle’s 12V battery and not the drive battery. In future developments we will look to increase this battery capacity to allow for additional equipment to be fitted,” said Terry Adams, Blue Light Direct Sales Manager, Ford of Britain and Ireland.
Tesla earlier this year also developed a Model 3 police car to be trialed by emergency services in the UK. The electric sedan has already proven itself as more than capable on the job in the US, with several police forces already seeing thousands of dollars of savings in the first year of operations.
