The Need for a Purpose-Built Law Enforcement Vehicle
Did you know...
that law enforcement officers do not drive custom-made or purpose-built patrol vehicles?
The vehicles that law enforcement agencies use today are retail passenger cars that were never designed for heavy-duty law enforcement usage. Needed law enforcement equipment (such as lights, sirens, radios, cameras, etc.) is then purchased and installed, or 'upfitted', to a retail passenger vehicle in the after-market.
Think about it. Firefighters, emergency medical responders, military personnel, mail carriers, and garbage collectors all drive vehicles tailored to the specific needs of their jobs. Shouldn't the men and women who protect and serve our communities and police our streets deserve a vehicle that will not only keep them safer but help them to perform their jobs more effectively?
Under the current system, law enforcement agencies have no economies of scale in purchasing vehicles, equipment or maintenance services. In addition to purchasing its own fleet of vehicles from a local car dealer, each law enforcement agency is responsible for purchasing the emergency equipment from a multitude of vendors located all over the world. This is why the cost of a fully equipped law enforcement vehicle can total over $80,000.
These costs keep piling up even when it's time to retire a vehicle. When a law enforcement vehicle reaches the end of its useful life, it must be decommissioned. In order to do so, agencies must remove the vehicle from service, uninstall all of the emergency-related equipment, sometimes re-paint the car, and then sell the vehicle into the public domain.
Law enforcement agencies should be focused on protecting our communities—not overseeing these types of complex fleet management operations. There needs to be a simpler, more cost effective solution.
Carbon Motors will address all of these major issues with the Carbon E7 by providing a reliable, durable, affordable, high-performance patrol vehicle designed by law enforcement, for law enforcement.
Officer Protection and Safety
Did you know...
that approximately 50 percent of all officer injuries occur in the vehicles they drive. Causes for these injuries include not only crashes, but also poor ergonomics, limited space, and injuries stemming from the insertion and removal of combative subjects.
The National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (NHTSA) requires crash testing of all vehicles sold in the United States. Unfortunately, there is no such requirement for additional testing once a vehicle has been 'upfitted' with after-market law enforcement related equipment. These adaptations are completed at the agency's own risk. If these heavily modified versions of retail passenger cars were put through the proper tests, they most likely would not pass.
At the request of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Carbon Motors Corporation joined the Law Enforcement Stops and Safety Subcommittee (LESSS) alongside General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler LLC. The committee's primary focus is on vehicle-related safety matters, which has provided Carbon additional a front-row view of the industry's challenges on matters of officer safety.
Carbon Motors believes that a purpose-built vehicle produced to the specifications and quality of an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) will yield significant safety improvements for first responders.
The Carbon E7 will meet or exceed all federally mandated safety and operational regulations right off the manufacturer's line, with all law enforcement equipment installed. The result will be a vehicle that offers the highest level of protection, performance, and safety for the men and women charged with ensuring the safety of the American public.
Fuel Economy
Did you know...
that there are over 19,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States with a combined total of over 425,000 vehicles? These vehicles average only 8-14 miles per gallon and can sometimes drive up to 90,000 miles a year.
With this size fleet, this usage profile, and this type of outdated technology, it is estimated that law enforcement in the United States burns through 1.5 billion gallons of gasoline annually and emits over 14 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per year. And taxpayers are shelling out over $4 billion each year for fuel expenditures alone, a number that only increases as the cost of fuel rises.
Carbon Motors will use superior technologies to improve the performance and durability of a law enforcement vehicle, while also providing up to a 40 percent improvement in fuel economy. This will save taxpayer dollars while providing law enforcement first responders with the right technology for the critical task of securing our communities.
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