New York City could possibly be the best place in the world for a Hybrid Police car. NYC is obviously a dense city, where speed and power of the old Crown Vics would be wasted energy. Apparently I'm not the only one who thought so, so the NYPD has just purchased a fleet of
40 hybrid cars.
This is the first step in an effort to reduce the Manhattan green house gases by as much as 30% by 2017. A very lofty and worthy goal for any city, but especially one as large and trend setting as New York. Furthermore, this first step to reduce emissions will only benefit a portion of NYC. The 40 hybrid police cars are expected to only handle a handful of precincts. Namely the precincts with the most stop and go traffic or long patrol areas.
Believe it or not, New York City is already using over 3,000 hybrid vehicles. These hybrids are being used in park and recreation, sanitation, etc. and not currently being used for patrolling. The addition of the 40 hybrids will be specifically used by the police force.
If you are like myself, you are wondering why they would choose a possible non-domestic vehicle to patrol the great city. Well, the hybrid of choice for the NYPD is the Nissan Altima. The hybrid version of the Altima is actually made right in the USA, while the Impala and Crown Vics were made in Canada. As long as the vehicles are proven to save city money, reduce green house gases, and safely do the job, I'm all for it.
