DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) – The Dubuque Police Department is awaiting an order for eight hybrid vehicles to expand its fleet.

According to Dubuque Police Lt. Luke Bock, the purchase will cost $383,184 without equipping the vehicles as patrol cars. While it costs about $30,000 more than a comparable order of the standard gasoline-powered vehicles, the police “expect a fuel savings that will offset that.”

Of the department’s 47 vehicles, only one is a hybrid. Bock said the hybrid is more efficient and less expensive to maintain than a regular patrol vehicle.

“This is one car in a fleet of dozens, so there are always going to be problems as we continue to work on it,” Bock explained. “But right now we’re very happy with the performance of this vehicle, which has prompted us to order eight more.”

The hybrid patrol car is almost identical to the rest of the fleet.

“You only notice you’re in a hybrid when you stop at a red light or a stop sign or stop to write a report or something, and then the revs drop and it gets a lot quieter,” Bock said. “We haven’t had any negative feedback from any of the cops who have driven it, which reinforces my opinion that it’s a good decision to add more of them to the fleet.”

Some officers tell TV9 that the hybrid patrol car is more responsive and gets up to speed faster than other vehicles in the fleet. While Bock could not provide an exact number of chases his hybrid vehicle has been involved in, he noted that all of their vehicles are regularly tested to ensure they can withstand the demands a high-speed pursuit places on a patrol car.

The order for eight more hybrid vehicles is also linked to the schedule for replacing patrol cars. The Dubuque Police Department replaces part of its fleet every few years.

“Police officers can put a lot of strain on their vehicles, so they need to be replaced,” Bock said. “These vehicles needed to be replaced, and the hybrids have proven themselves so well that we were able to place an order.”

The purchase of eight additional hybrid vehicles does not mean an eventual switch to electric vehicles. Bock pointed out that the department has no plans to add electric vehicles to the fleet.

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