Courtesy Santa Fe Police Department
One of the Ford Interceptor Utility Hybrid vehicles purchased by the Santa Fe Police Department on display at the Railyard.
As gas prices climb to record levels nationally, the Santa Fe Police Department will save on fuel with the purchase of new hybrid pursuit vehicles that use less gasoline per mile of driving. The fleet upgrade will cost the city just under $3 million.
Wednesday evening, City Council approved a budget adjustment request from SFPD to supplement the department’s fleet with 42 Ford Interceptor Utility Hybrid vehicles. According to a memo to the council, 93 vehicles in the department’s fleet are in need of replacement.
SFPD plans to spend $1 million of the department’s unspent money for staff positions that remained vacant on the equipment purchase, with the rest of the cash coming from gross receipts taxes the city collected. The request from SFPD was among $11.5 million in budget adjustment resolutions approved in Wednesday’s governing body meeting.
By the midpoint of fiscal year 2022, Dec. 31 2021, the city had already collected 67% of the total $108.9 million budgeted for the general fund in GRT revenue—a better financial outlook than expected for Santa Fe.
The new vehicles will replace “the current Police Interceptor sedans, Police Interceptor Utility vehicles and Fusion sedans,” reads the memo. The price tag for the vehicles alone is $1.6 million. The remaining $1.4 million requested will go to outfitting the new vehicles with communications and operation equipment.
Last July, City Council approved a $1.2 million to buy 15 vehicles, 12 of which were the same hybrid model. The previous year, SFPD only purchased eight new vehicles, which did not meet the department’s needs, “due to the financial challenges caused by the pandemic,” reads the memo.
The new hybrid vehicles could save the city up to $150,000 per year in fuel costs; though that estimate ($3.36 per gallon) is only two weeks old, gas prices have increased significantly since its drafting. The average price per gallon of regular fuel in Santa Fe breached $4 as a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has pressured global fuel markets—gas hasn’t been this high since 2008, AAA reports.
In addition to the fuel savings, the department notes the vehicles will be more comfortable for drivers, particularly for “large statured officers” who often are too big for the sedans currently in use.
