Police departments across the country are being asked to replace their aging fleets of Ford Crown Victorias with a wave of new police car options from the Big Three. Justifiably, many are choosing the new Taurus-based Ford Police Interceptor, which comes available with a 365 horsepower EcoBoost V6 engine that provides performance the Crown Vic could only dream about.

But while an officer might be called upon to use 100% of the available power every now and then, fuel economy has become increasingly important to police departments in every city and state. That is why Ford is going to start offering the special service package on the Police Interceptor with a 2.0 liter EcoBoost, which is expected to take the fuel economy crown among available police vehicles.

It’s a common sense move for Ford, which made the 2.0 liter EcoBoost available in the Taurus starting with the 2012 model year. The civilian version of the 2.0 liter EcoBoost Taurus earned a 32 mpg highway and 22 mpg city rating, for a combined EPA rating of 26 mpg, The Police Interceptor is expected to be the first law enforcement vehicle to get at least 30 mpg on the highway and 20 in the city, for 23 mpg combined. The ideas of offering the smaller EcoBoost package was done so with detectives, campus police, and administrators wanting to maximize fuel economy in mind.

Of course that mpg rating depends on how heavy-footed the officers drive, and the 2.0 liter EcoBoost is not lacking in power with 240 ponies on tap. Even so, Ford estimates that with an average of 30,000 miles per year for many police vehicles the special service package with the 2.0 liter EcoBoost could save departments up to $5,000 in fuel costs over three years compared to more fuel-thirsty engines.

It all makes sense in our “new” economy where every dollar is watched closely, and even law enforcement has to pinch pennies somewhere. We expect the EcoBoost 2.0 will be a popular option for law enforcement everywhere, for those cars that don’t need pursuit capability.