Police muscle up with massive Ford Mustang Mach-E order, beating the Tesla Model 3 to the punch: Is Australia next?

The highly successful Ford Mustang Mach-E has hit another milestone, with the announcement that it has officially entered active police duty.

Hot on the heels of Ford having to close the order books in North America for all 2022-model versions this week due to runaway demand, the New York Police Department (NYPD) has publicly displayed its first Mach-E at the New York Auto Show this week.

The NYPD is expected to be the first of many such agencies gravitating towards the electric Pony Car in the near future.

But don’t worry, Mach-E fans: the order books for the MY23 Mach-E will open soon, as Ford works its way through the mountain of orders for the vehicle in North America, Europe and elsewhere.

Better still, the Mustang EV SUV could finally head to Australia next year, with an announcement expected later this year ahead of a local launch sometime during the first half of 2023.

Whether the Australian police force respond with the same enthusiasm to the Blue Oval’s first production electric car as the NYPD when it hits our roads is unknown.

However, it is likely that Ford Australia is keen to capitalise on the best-selling Ranger pick-up truck’s burgeoning career with law-enforcement agencies throughout this country, especially in larger metropolitan areas like Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

So, why has the NYPD decided to go patrol this particular electric Fifth Avenue with the Mustang Mach-E?

Unveiling a single, liveried example of the flagship Mach-E GT at the New York Auto Show, NYPD commanding officer for fleet services, Inspector Scott Olexa, said that over 100 will be purchased as patrol vehicles in an effort to reduce emissions, with deliveries slated from about July this year.

“The idea is always to move to a greener fleet,” he said in a video tweet. “We’re now seizing that opportunity, we have charging stations being installed in multiple department facilities, and we are trying to see if we can integrate these as part of our regular fleet.”

Like all NYPD police vehicles, the Mach-E will include standard grille and roof lighting, as well as ballistic panels on the doors and windows to provide a heightened level of protection against firearm attacks, a roof-mounted LED message board, departmental ‘POLICE’ decals and additional reflective material for added safety.

Ford is obviously extremely serious about courting North American law enforcement agency contracts, since the NY Auto Show car features a steel roof, whereby other Mach-E GTs come with a glass roof, in the name of better safety. This would have been installed at the Mexican factory that produces the Mach-E.

The regular GT grade features two electric motors (one on each axle), to deliver around 360kW of power and 860Nm of torque on one hand, and about 375km of range on the other. While it isn’t the most efficient EV on offer, it can hit the 0-100km/h mark in under four seconds.

Whether the NYPD Mustangs achieve those figures has not been divulged. Normally, police vehicles have uprated powertrains, brakes and suspension to provide stronger performance, which may also apply to the Mustang Mach-E, but the added weight of all the necessary modifications may reduce potential range.

Late in December the NYPD announced its intentions to purchase a total of 184 Mach-Es, joining a fleet of over 6200 “light duty enforcement vehicles… and paves the way for a transition to all electric by 2035.” This means this will be the first of many more such EVs to come.

This is great news for Ford, since it was met with a muted response last year after sending a navy blue-liveried Mach-E evaluation vehicle to the Michigan State Police. Since then, there has been interest in the vehicle in other US departments, as well as some in the UK.

No doubt many of the Australian law enforcement agencies are watching the NYPD’s experiences with the Mustang Mach-E very closely as that model’s Australian debut looms.