The Old Westbury Police Department unveiled its first, fully marked electric patrol vehicle on May 1. The department said it was among the first in the region to incorporate electric patrol vehicles.
Old Westbury Chief of Police Stuart Cameron said the department’s new 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning electric vehicle will save the village money while keeping noise pollution down, especially if there’s a call in the middle of the night.
Cameron also said he sees the vehicle not just as the first of its kind for a local police department, but as the start of a broader pilot to transition into electric vehicles.
“I believe in being collaborative… and I believe that’s the way law enforcement should work,” Cameron said. “So I look upon this as a Long Island pilot. Any interested first responder agencies will share the information that we learn as we utilize this car.”
Cameron said the new electric vehicle should save the village money since it won’t have to go in for maintenance or oil changes like the department’s other non-electric vehicles. The only maintenance costs the truck may encounter are replacing tires and brakes after extensive use.
Along with the financial savings, the vehicle is the department’s fastest and quietest. It can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in just under four seconds. The truck can also act as a power generator in case of emergency since it can supply 220—and 100-volt power.
Other features on the truck include a front trunk for additional storage space and the ability to recharge while driving through its one-pedal driving option, which charges the car when the driver’s foot goes off the gas pedal through a process called regenerative braking.
The Old Westbury Police Department has been using the car for around a month after receiving a $100,000 grant from state Sen. Jack Martins, who attended the unveiling.
“This is a game changer,” Martins said. “[This vehicle] provides all kinds of utilities and resources to this department; it serves this community in a way that no other vehicle can.”
Martins also said that the grant wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of former Old Westbury Mayor Fred Carillo, who got into the driver’s seat after the press conference unveiling the vehicle to the public, to see the truck for himself.
Ford also supplied the department with a free 220-volt charge and a no-cost, eight-year 100,000-mile warranty on its electric drive components.
“It is going to be a model, not only for other villages, I believe, county police, you’re going to see a transition to vehicles just like this,” Martins said.
