Ford Goes Full-Size: 2028 Expedition Police Responder Joins the Police Lineup
The pursuit-rated Expedition brings 400 horsepower, standard 4x4 and a heavy-duty tow package to agencies that have outgrown a midsize SUV.
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Ford is adding a full-size, pursuit-rated utility vehicle to its police portfolio. The 2028 Ford Expedition Police Responder comes standard with 4×4 and five-passenger seating, and it is built around the same purpose-built police features Ford has been putting in its other duty vehicles.
The powertrain is a 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 rated at 400 horsepower and 480 lb.-ft. of torque, paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission. Both are standard.
The standard utility equipment list is where this one separates itself from a midsize unit. Expedition Police Responder comes with Heavy-Duty Trailer Tow, an Integrated Trailer Brake Controller, Trailer Sway Control, a torque-on-demand transfer case, a 360-degree camera and a Power Split Liftgate with Police Accessory Independent Timed-Release Output, which Ford calls PAITRO. For agencies pulling boats, generators, light towers, command trailers or prisoner transport equipment, that is a meaningful amount of capability without a separate spec exercise.
Inside, the vehicle is set up for duty rather than comfort. The black interior includes police-grade heavy-duty cloth front seats with reduced side bolsters, which is the detail officers wearing a duty belt notice first, plus rear anti-stab plates, a vinyl floor and a vinyl rear bench seat. Anyone who has tried to clean a cloth rear seat after a bad night knows why that matters. Police Dark Car, Police Engine Idle and Police Perimeter Alert are also standard.
Ford is positioning the vehicle as part of the Ford Pro portfolio and building on more than 75 years of working with law enforcement customers. It expands a lineup that already includes the Police Interceptor Utility, which Ford says is America’s best-selling police vehicle, and the F-150 Police Responder, the first pursuit-rated pickup truck.
What it means for public fleets
The practical question for a fleet manager is where a full-size pursuit-rated SUV fits in a replacement plan that is probably built around the Interceptor Utility today. A few things worth working through before it shows up on a spec sheet:
Seating. Five-passenger seating is the standard configuration. If your agency routinely moves more than four people plus a driver, or you were hoping to spec a full-size unit as a transport vehicle, that number is worth confirming early.
Upfit. A larger body and a Power Split Liftgate mean your current cage, cargo, partition and antenna packages are not automatically a carryover from an Interceptor Utility. Get your upfitter looking at it before you build a bid.
Fuel and lifecycle. A 400-horsepower full-size 4×4 is not a one-for-one budget swap with a midsize unit. If you are considering it for patrol rather than for a supervisor, K-9, marine or emergency management role, run the fuel and lifecycle math against what the extra room and tow rating actually buy you.
Pricing and order timing were not included in the announcement. Fleets planning a 2028 order cycle should ask their Ford government sales contact for both, along with confirmed towing and payload numbers, before committing budget.
