It took about 18 months to choose the make and model of the next police car in The Netherlands, and the BMW X1 emerged as the winner. The compact crossover won’t be on its own as the Dutch police authorities are also going to use the Ford Kuga in its full hybrid configuration. These will replace the Mercedes B-Class minivans currently in use, but it won’t happen overnight.
BMW and Ford are currently manufacturing a few test vehicles that will be evaluated throughout the next year. If the X1 and Kuga will get the proverbial stamp of approval from the police officers, the agreement will then be signed. The deal calls for the two automakers to supply and maintain vehicles from January 2025 until December 2029, with a possible extension until December 2032.
The first batch of cars should be delivered by the middle of 2025, and Dutch police are looking to buy a total of 1,100 vehicles. If you’re wondering about the criteria used to determine the winners, the user experience accounted for 50% of the decision-making process, followed by the asking price at 30% and the qualitative criteria at 20%.
While the X1 and Kuga will both have combustion engines underneath their hoods, the Dutch authorities are looking to buy EVs in the coming years to lower the fleet emissions. As many as 500 current gasoline-fueled vehicles –  representing approximately 30% of the entire fleet – will be replaced with fully electric cars from late 2025.
BMW is no stranger to turning the X1 U11 into a specialty vehicle, having introduced the xDrive20d-based Fire Command Vehicle at the RETTmobil 2023 back in May. At the same event, it also had an iX1 xDrive30 serving as a rescue service vehicle. These two shared the spotlight with an X3 xDrive30d emergency medical service vehicle and a camouflaged X5 xDrive45e that had portable blue lights.
Source: politie.nl
