The City of Detroit has received 10 new ambulances and 15 new police vehicles as part of the first group of vehicles being put into service, out of a total 123 paid for by an $8 million donation from the local business community. The City expects to receive another 13 EMS units by the end of the year and plans to roll out an additional 85 patrol cars as they are equipped, according to a release from Detroit Mayor Dave Bing's office.

The City is using the funds to replace its entire fleet of 23 EMS ambulances at a cost of $161,000 per vehicle. The EMS units are built on International’s TerraStar chassis by Horton Ambulance, according to the City. The City acquired the 100 police vehicles from area Chrysler-, Ford-, and GM-brand dealerships and the group includes a mix of Dodge Charger Police Pursuit, Ford Police Interceptor, and Chevrolet Caprice PPV models. Each vehicle, after upfitting, cost between $40,000 and $50,000, the City stated.

The companies that donated funds for the vehicles include Penske Corporation; Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan; Chrysler Group, LLC; Ford Motor Company; General Motors Company; Quicken Loans, Inc.; The Kresge Foundation; Platinum Equity, LLC; and Shinola. The City stated that these companies worked with the Downtown Detroit Partnership as part of this program. FirstMerit Bank acted as the financial partner in this project.

Updated 8/26/2013, 11:58 am, with attribution and clarification that the City is putting the vehicles received into service.