NYPD Gets Hybrid Patrol Cars
New York’s boys in blue may just have to be renamed the boys in green. The NYPD has just announced that they will be adding 40 Nissan Altima Hybrids to their patrol car lineup. 18 of these will be decked out in the regular decals and sirens, as seen above, but the remaining 22 will be unmarked.
The NYPD has been using hybrid vehicles and scooters in their Parking Enforcement division for some time now, as well as a few GMC hybrid SUVs for use by police captains, but the 40 new Altimas mark the first hybrids used for active patrol duty. City officials said that the cars would be used in select areas, mainly those precincts that have either a large area to cover or are punctuated by consistent stop-and-go traffic. The Altima hybrid gets a city mileage of 35 mpg, as opposed to the 16 mpg averaged by the Chevrolet Impala, which makes up the bulk of the patrol fleet.
The NYPD plans to add an additional 60 hybrid vehicles to its fleet for this year to bolster the aforementioned Parking Enforcement division. At a cost of $25,391, the Altima hybrid costs only about $1,500 more than a traditional Impala police cruiser, and the amount of fuel savings will surely make up for that cost in very little time. The addition of hybrid vehicles to the city’s fleet is part of PlaNYC, the city’s program that is aimed at reducing carbon emissions 30% by the year 2017.
