I agree that it would be smart for Ford to be proactive in this, but I think the long-term verdict on the hybrid car is still out. If you ever read car-repair forums or blogs, people that have older ones are being hung-to-dry with battery prices, having to fix two power trains, technicians not being up-to-date on repair.

I think the goal of a hybrid is a five-year-car (or ten?) that's 'recycled' at the end, not repaired. Generally, this is the way newer cars are sold (esp. imports) already, but I don't think this mentality is compatible with taxis--they're used to replacing the engine/trans and sending it back out for another 200K miles.

Also, Police cars need to handle well--batteries in hybrids (so far)have made them overweight, not good for cornering/stopping. They are able to get plenty of horsepower out of parallel systems, but again, you have twice the maintenance once it's older.

A smaller engine (not hybrid) in a Crown Vic is great, but taxi drivers and police might not be pleased with less horsepower. Big cars are heavy--they need that power. Also, likely it wouldn't get much better milege as the size is really the problem.