The New York Post is reporting that the New York City Police Department will be testing out 40 Nissan Altima hybrids as part of its fleet of police cars. If you are a regular reader of The Green Motorist, then you may remember the hybrid taxi debacle that the city of New York is dealing with. There is a question as to the safety of hybrids in use as taxis. The issue was the center of much debate and ended up in the court system.

Now, the city is testing out hybrids as police cars. The first question that comes to mind is how fast can these Altima hybrids go? The top speed, per the Post report is 113 mph – not too bad.

“If it performs, the fuel-efficient hybrids may eventually replace the gas guzzlers that make up the current 3,254-vehicle patrol fleet of mostly Ford Crown Victorias and Chevy Impalas. Those get 16 to 18 mpg in the city - compared to 35 mpg expected from the Altimas.

To start, the NYPD has outfitted 18 hybrids as marked patrol cars, bringing the $21,500 base cost to $30,752 per car. Another 20 are unmarked ($25,595 each), and two are disguised as yellow cabs for anticrime work ($28,600 each).” (Source: New York Post)

I hope that the Altimas do well – if all of the police cruisers and taxicabs in NYC are converted to hybrids, I imagine that there will be a noticeable decrease in tail pipe emissions in the city.

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