Ford Submits Mustang Mach-E for Police-Duty Evaluation

Part of $30-million electrification investment through 2025, Mach-E police demo undergoing testing with Michigan State Police Sept. 18-20.

Earlier this week, Electric Vehicle Forums reported Ford sent the Mustang Mach-E across the Atlantic for evaluation by several police departments in the United Kingdom. Dubbed the 999 (the emergency phone number used in the U.K.), the demo Mach-E is a standard-range AWD unit. Once approved, extended-range rear- and all-wheel drive units will also be available.

This weekend, the Mach-E is set to undergo another evaluation. This time, though, it will be with the toughest evaluators in the United States: the Michigan State Police.

According to the MSP, their annual evaluation pits every submission through a grueling performance criteria. This is all to determine the best pursuit-capable machine worthy of police duty. Such criteria includes the ability to go from zero to 60 in nine seconds, 80 mph in 14.9 seconds, and survive all 32 laps around Grattan Raceway without mechanical failure. A successful candidate will be worthy of serving in the MSP fleet, as well as other law-enforcement agencies’ fleets.

For Ford, the test is part of their $30-million electrification investment through 2025. The goal is to eventually build “all-electric, purpose-built law enforcement vehicles” beyond what Ford currently offers. Thus, the Mach-E could set the stage for other future Ford EVs to follow the tradition set by the beloved Crown Victoria in the ’80s into the early 2010s.

Right now, agencies like the MSP use Ford’s Explorer-based Police Interceptor Utility, itself the successor to the Crown Victoria from 2011 onward. This also isn’t the first Mustang-based police car to wear a badge. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, the Mustang SSP chased down many a high-performance criminal for a few agencies. Both the California Highway Patrol and the Florida Highway Patrol purchased the pony in droves, as did the DEA and U.S. Border Patrol.

The Mach-E will stand-out among the rest of the MSP Class of 2022. The previous year included the Dodge Durango, Chevrolet Tahoe, and Ford’s own F-150 Police Responder. As demand for police-ready EVs grow, though, automakers like Ford will rise to the challenge.

Photos: Ford

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Cameron Aubernon

Cameron Aubernon's path to automotive journalism began in the early New '10s. Back then, a friend of hers thought she was an independent fashion blogger.

Aubernon wasn't, so she became one, covering fashion in her own way for the next few years.

From there, she's written for: Louisville.com/Louisville Magazine, Insider Louisville, The Voice-Tribune/The Voice, TOPS Louisville, Jeffersontown Magazine, Dispatches Europe, The Truth About Cars, Automotive News, Yahoo Autos, RideApart, Hagerty, and Street Trucks.

Aubernon also served as the editor-in-chief of a short-lived online society publication in Louisville, Kentucky, interned at the city's NPR affiliate, WFPL-FM, and was the de facto publicist-in-residence for a communal art space near the University of Louisville.

Aubernon is a member of the International Motor Press Association, and the Washington Automotive Press Association.

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