The Ville de Repentigny-City of Repentigny will be home to Quebec’s first all-electric police car.
The city announced this weekend a pilot project that will see a Ford Mustang Mach-E join the Service de police de Repentigny (SPVR).
The Mach-E has already been converted for police use by Cyberkar, a company that specializes in high-end technological solutions for emergency vehicles.
According to the city, the modified the interior of the Mach-E extensively to get it ready for daily police use.
“The interior ergonomics were completely redesigned in conjunction with workplace health and safety experts. The focus was on increased safety and a better working environment for the officers, who spend considerable time in their cars,” the city said in a statement.
The exterior of the Mach-E remains largely unchanged, with the exception of brand new marking that will take their inspiration from European police forces which have adopted “Battenburg markings” with strong contrasting colours.
A final design has not been decided upon but will be studied by a committee that will include police force input, then tested before the vehicle is put into service.
During the pilot project, the Mach-E will be assessed on its battery performance and efficiency under different conditions, including those that require high performance during emergency response.
The city hopes this pilot project will be the beginning of a trend and will share and promote their electric cruiser to other police forces in Quebec.
“With testing just around the corner, our next aim will be to promote the all-electric car to other Quebec police forces. Ideally, a sufficiently strong interest will help drive down refitting costs and generate economies of scale through the purchase of many vehicles,” said Stéphanie Fortier, Organizational Performance Consultant, City of Repentigny.
Ford Mach-E may have passed Michigan State Police Testing, but it didn’t do very well