2027 Ram 2500 Emergency Response Vehicle Just Cucked Your Police Department's Ford Explorers

It wasn't too long ago that cop cars were puny little sedans based on rental cars like the Chevrolet Impala and old people cars like the Ford Crown Victoria. Thankfully, Ford put an end to all that nonsense when it introduced the bigger, more capable Police Interceptor Utility based on the Ford Explorer. But there's a new cop car in town now, and suddenly, those Explorers look a lot like the losermobiles they replaced. Sorry, Police Interceptor Utility, you're going to have to sit in that chair in the corner and watch while the 2027 Ram 2500 Emergency Response Vehicle gets all the police chase action.

Sure, the betas at your local police department could always nut up and swap their wimpy Explorers for F-150 Police Responders like Real Men, but that's still not a heavy duty truck. The Ram 2500 Emergency Response Vehicle is a heavy duty truck, and its 6.4-liter Hemi V8 humiliates the F-150's weak little V6. An extra two cylinders matters, and those dinky Fords just don't have the displacement to properly satisfy the needs of modern law enforcement. You don't even have to be a cop to know they'll all prefer the thrust of that massive, naturally aspirated V8 that makes 405 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque.

The Emergency Response Vehicle starts life as a regular Ram 2500 and then establishes its dominance with a package of durability upgrades, including a skid plate to protect the transfer case, 18-inch steel wheels that Ram claims were "engineered to withstand the demanding abuse of field operations," and two 400-amp alternators to power auxiliary equipment. The cabin has also been modified with a Vehicle System Interface Module, instrument panel auxiliary switches, and dedicated wiring circuits that should make it easier to customize for fleet duty.

In order to approve the Ram for use, the Michigan State Police requires acceleration tests from 0 to 60 mph, 80 mph, and 100 mph. And it has to complete 32 consecutive laps at Grattan Raceway without major component failure. They also measure the distance it travels while reaching its top speed, and the average deceleration rate while performing 20 full anti-lock brake stops from 60 mph. As all the alphas at Ram knew it would, the ERV kicked those tests' asses. Acceleration was "within two seconds of several lighter and smaller ½‑ton truck and SUV competitors," while the distance required to hit its top speed was "on-pace with competitors."

In all seriousness, though, it'll probably take a year off my life the first time I see one of these things doing regular traffic enforcement, and there's no way you can take the "Ram Law" graphic seriously, but I don't actually hate that it exists. Traffic cops may not need heavy duty pickup trucks with Hemis, but there are plenty of reasons you'd want a heavy duty truck for fire, rescue, and emergency response. Those are good reasons for the Ram 2500 Emergency Response Vehicle to exist, so I'm happy it does. It would just be nice if we lived in a country where we saw a heavy duty truck designed for emergency response in rural, mountainous areas and didn't have to immediately assume some departments will just buy them because bigger is better, and they want to feel tough.