Dodge Is Installing a 12.1-inch Touchscreen on Police Cars, but What's Next?

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

Dodge announced for its Charger Pursuit cars Friday an available 12.1-inch Uconnect touchscreen, which is five times larger than its 5-inch model available in some of its cars.

The 12.1-inch screen — which is only available on Charger cars for police for now — is meant to eliminate mounted laptops in the front seats of many police vehicles. The screen can be connected to a laptop in the trunk via ethernet cord, and can display functions such as lights, sirens, forward-mounted cameras and radio information.

In addition to the massive Uconnect screen, Dodge sells the Charger with a V-8 and all-wheel drive only to police fleets, complete with steering column-mounted shifter.

Police fleet sales comprise a substantial part of overall sales of large sedans. Automakers don’t disclose overall costs of their police cars, however the California Highway Patrol recently paid $30,000 per Ford Taurus-based Interceptor it recently purchased, according to the LA Times.

In 2014, Dodge sold more than 10,000 of its Charger Pursuit cars according to the report.









Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

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  • Spartan Spartan on Sep 12, 2015

    The fact that they chose a 12 inch screen with 1024x768 resolution means that they found a supplier with thousands of these crap displays sitting in a warehouse and got them for a steal.

  • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Sep 12, 2015

    FCA is trying, but they can't address the Charger's deficiencies of inability to open the front doors 90 degrees for quick exit, the lack of hip space for officers wearing loaded utility belts, and the lack of space in the back seat with the cage installed, making it difficult to put arrestees in or take them out. Well, they can, but they'd have to redesign the car with a longer wheelbase, wider track, and taller roof, until they end up with a Chrysler 300 with a high greenhouse. The police also liked the menacing old front clip that the Italian designers softened. They might have been better off using the Durango as the base car.

    • See 1 previous
    • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Sep 13, 2015

      @nickoo On the Charger, the "Hemi" and "SRT" badges were expected to reduce chases, even though there would be a Pentastar V6 under the hood. But the old standby is reasserting its power: nobody outruns the radio. Nobody outruns the military surplus Blackhawk helicopters either.

  • FreedMike This is before Cadillac styling went full scale nutty...and not particularly attractive, in my opinion.
  • JTiberius1701 Middle of April here in NE Ohio. And that can still be shaky. Also on my Fiesta ST, I use Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires for the winter and Bridgestone Potenza for my summer tires. No issues at all.
  • TCowner We've had a 64.5 Mustang in the family for the past 40 years. It is all original, Rangoon Red coupe with 289 (one of the first instead of the 260), Rally Pac, 4-speed, factory air, every option. Always gets smiles and thumbs ups.
  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
  • Mikey My late wife loved Mustangs ..We alway rented one while travelling . GM blood vetoed me purchasing one . 3 years after retirement bought an 08 rag top, followed by a 15 EB Hard top, In 18 i bought a low low mileage 05 GT rag with a stick.. The car had not been properly stored. That led to rodent issues !! Electrical nightmare. Lots of bucks !! The stick wasn't kind to my aging knees.. The 05 went to a long term dedicated Mustang guy. He loves it .. Today my garage tenant is a sweet 19 Camaro RS rag 6yl Auto. I just might take it out of hibernation this weekend. The Mustang will always hold a place in my heart.. Kudos to Ford for keeping it alive . I refuse to refer to the fake one by that storied name .
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