Carbon Motors Corporation, the upstart company from Indiana who has been developing a new purpose built police car jointly announced a deal with BMW to supply diesel power trains for the cars when they begin production in 2011.
BMW will be supplying the entire drive train including the same twin-turbocharged clean diesel found in the US versions of the 3-series and X5. BMW will ship engines complete with cooling and exhaust gas systems, and automatic transmissions for the new Carbon E7 police cruiser.
The deal is said to be good for up to 245,000 engines over 35 years which is pretty heady for an upstart company that just a few years ago didn’t even exist. But Carbon Motors bills itself as a “Homeland Security” company who is developing the only purpose built police car ever. No information is available about the platform architecture and what if any parts it might share with other production cars.
Notable however is that this announcement makes the Carbon E7 the first ever diesel powered police cruiser to be offered in America. The company claims their choice of power plants is the “technically correct” solution for law enforcement operations due to its inherent performance, safety, operational, fuel efficiency, and durability characteristics. While we love diesels here we have to wonder how many law enforcement agencies will handle the transition from simple gas engines to a complex and high maintenance BMW twin-turbo oil burner.
That leads to the biggest question of all for the Carbon E7. With all this brand new upstart tech, purpose built interior and exterior, what will it cost. The company claims the new cruiser will be cost competitive with other police units, but until pricing is released and maintenance track records are set most law enforcement agencies will be rolling the dice at first. Regardless of the many question marks, it sure does look cool. And having a fleet of diesel powered police cruisers will be a move in the right direction.
Vehicle features:
* Meets or exceeds all regulatory requirements
* Designed to 250,000 mile durability specification
* Turn-key built-to-direct-order – 24/7/365 call center support
* Turn-key end-of-vehicle-life process
* Comprehensive warranty
* Aluminum spaceframe body structure
* 75 mph rear impact crash capability
* Cockpit with fully-integrated factory fitted law enforcement equipment
* Integrated emergency lights, spot lights, take down lights, and directional stick
* Segment exclusive coach rear doors for safer suspect ingress and egress
* Vehicle dynamic control
* Anti-lock brakes
* Optimized approach / departure angles and ground clearance
* NIJ Level III-A (or better) ballistic protection (front doors and dash panel)
* Purpose-designed seat for use with on-body equipment – Heated and ventilated seats
* Heads up display
* Reverse backup camera
* Remote start capability
* Driver specific intelligent key
* 360 degree exterior surveillance capability
* Automatic license plate recognition system
* Video and audio surveillance of rear passenger compartment
* 130hz – 350hz bass siren
* Nightvision compliant interior illumination
* Integrated forward looking infrared system (FLIR)
* Integrated shotgun mounts
* Optimized storage capability (compartment and cargo)
* Integrated front and rear passenger compartment partition
* Hoseable rear passenger compartment
* Integrated push bumpers and PIT capability
