Hybrid police cars for the NYPD.

(PhysOrg.com) -- New York City has a goal to reduce its overall carbon footprint. For Manhattan, the goal is to reduce greenhouse gases 30% by 2017. As part of this effort, the New York City Police Department just added 40 hybrid cars to its fleet. The Nissan Altima Hybrids are the first NYPD alternative fuel patrol cars, but they probably won't be the last. The NYPD plans to deploy at least 100 hybrids in total this year.

40 hybrid patrol cars obviously are not enough to cover all of New York City. However, the city has analyzed the precincts that are most likely to benefit from the hybrid police cars. These precincts include those with large areas of coverage, as well as precincts that may be smaller but sport a great deal of stop and go traffic. The idea is to maximize the benefit of the cars by putting them in areas where the positive environmental gains -- and the economic profit -- are most evident.

The City of New York actually has 3,300 hybrids in service (out of 26,000), but they are mostly assigned to departments that do not see a lot of public safety action: parks and rec, buildings and sanitation. The NYPD will be monitoring these patrol cars to make sure that they are safe and efficient. Hopes are that more hybrid patrol vehicles can be added in the future, helping the NYPD save money on gas. The cost of an Altima, at $25,391, is only a little more than the Crown Victoria ($24,875) and the Chevy Impala ($23,967) also used. As a result, it should be possible for the gas savings from the Altima to more than make up the difference.

Also interesting: The Nissan Altima Hybrids are actually made in the U.S.A. The Crown Victorias and Imapalas? Made in Canada.

More information: Red, Green and Blue.

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