- The 2025 Ford Police Interceptor now has a standard hybrid powertrain
- Ford no longer sells Explorer hybrid to consumers
- Non-hybrid V-6 and twin-turbo V-6 remain options for police Explorers
Ford has made a hybrid powertrain standard on its Explorer-based police car for the 2025 model year.
The hybrid powertrain was previously an option on the police vehicle, officially called the Ford Police Interceptor Utility, but is now the default. Ford previously offered the Explorer Hybrid to civilians, but discontinued after 2024. Ford spokesman still “considering” the return of the Explorer Hybrid Dan Barbossa recently shared with Green Car Reports.
The hybrid uses a 3.3-liter V-6 and an electric motor mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission, for a combined output of 318 horsepower and 322 pound-feet of torque. A 1.5-kWh battery pack under the rear seats powers the electric motor. Ford continues to offer a 3.3-liter V-6 without the hybrid system, rated at 285 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque, and a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6 making 400 horsepower and 415 pound-feet of torque, as options on the Interceptor Utility for 2025.
2025 Ford Police Interceptor Utility Vehicle
Ford notes that hybrid powertrains are particularly well-suited to police vehicles, as they can continue to run on-board equipment even when the gas engine is turned off. In the Police Interceptor Utility, this can save up to 838 gallons of fuel per year, the automaker claims. Ford estimates that this equates to $17,500 in savings over a six-year ownership period, at $3.50 a gallon of gas.
The Police Interceptor Utility gets other updates for 2025, including a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and more standard driver aids, but doesn’t get the same new styling that the civilian Explorer received for the new model year. It also retains the vertical center touchscreen that the 2025 Explorer ditched in favor of a landscape-format display.
2025 Ford Police Interceptor Utility Vehicle
Ford has launched the current generation Police car stop utility for the 2020 model year along with the current generation of the civilian Explorer. Testing by the Michigan State Police at the time found that the hybrid was fastest police SUV then sold, but generally not the fastest.
Ford has offered hybrid police cars for years. It introduced its first pursuit-rated hybrid police car based on the Fusion Hybrid sedan in 2017. In 2021, the automaker also revealed a Mustang Mach-E police test carwhich the NYPD later expressed interest in. The previous generation of Ford Escape HybridAlthough not offered in the official police service package, it is also popular with private security patrol and parking units.
