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LAFD To Purchase First Electric Fire Engine In North America
- Thread starter mikeindabronx
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Bulldog
Bulldog
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While I'm all for controlling pollution etc. at least in my opinion this is a terrible idea! Imagine getting to a scene of a major fire and not being able to use your truck because the batteries are discharged!! Maybe it would work for a rescue or something like that but it certainly doesn't seem appropriate for anything that would be in constant use while fighting a fire.
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Just perfect for California! SMDH. Great use of taxpayers money.
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Menlo Park CA considered this rig last year, and decided to pass (smart decision, in my opinion). Rosenbauer rep in Southern CA must be very active to talk LAFD into this purchase. Here's my idea of how FDNY would support a thng like this . . . Ferrara would probably get a contract to build a dozen of them.
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LAFD as well as most other departments in CA respond on Mutual Aid sometimes a distance of 150 miles or more. What kind of range would this rig have? It might be a modern version of the ALF Turbo Chief that San Francisco had in the early 60's and didn't last very long.
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fltpara16 said:
Look for the rig with an extension cord plugged into a wall outlet 8)
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"Five of the vehicles are already on order by fire departments in the U.S., so plans are underway for the Wyoming plant to hire another 80 workers."
https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/03/04/green-revolution-brings-worlds-first-electric-fire-truck/
https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/03/04/green-revolution-brings-worlds-first-electric-fire-truck/
Wow really? Not sure bout this....
True
Very nice pic.
Yesterday the Madison Fire Department beat LAFD to the punch, putting an electric engine built by Pierce in service at E*8. E*8 is one of the busiest companies in all of Wisconsin. Additionally, it has a traditional engine for if/ when the batteries drain out.
www.piercemfg.com
Volterra™ Electric Fire Truck | Pierce Mfg
The Volterra™ Electric Fire Truck supports green initiatives with an environmentally-conscious fire apparatus that reduce emissions.
www.piercemfg.com
I didn't see a run time for the apparatus on the batteries. Meaning, how long do the batteries last before it switches over to combustion engine. I know my daughters car is a hybrid and it only gets about 100 miles on a full battery, weather permitting ( cold weather it is less), and now some are getting much more but it seems that operating a pump or aerial device at a scene it will drain the batteries sooner. My thoughtsYesterday the Madison Fire Department beat LAFD to the punch, putting an electric engine built by Pierce in service at E*8. E*8 is one of the busiest companies in all of Wisconsin. Additionally, it has a traditional engine for if/ when the batteries drain out.
Volterra™ Electric Fire Truck | Pierce Mfg
The Volterra™ Electric Fire Truck supports green initiatives with an environmentally-conscious fire apparatus that reduce emissions.
Bulldog
Bulldog
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It has to be one of the worst applications possible for an electric vehicle! You respond to a fire where you are first in, so the rig is parked in front of the building. It ends up being a multiple alarm long-duration call and guess what, the batteries die! Now you've got the front of the fire building tied up with the rig that's totally useless. Certainly makes a lot of sense to me. Okay, it has an IC engine to use after the batteries die so now you are paying for both the electric and the IC systems which raises the purchase price of the unit as well as having additional maintenance considerations.
I don't get it either. When there's a chance it may be hours of work for the engine its useless. A diesel can be refueled on the spot you obviously can't plug in the batteries to recharge during an incident. Last year my sister's house was lost in a 3 alarm fire on SI. E162 was first due and operated for about 3 1/2 hrs. E167 was I believe 2nd due and operated for about 5 1/2 hrs. Its just an example of how long those batteries would need to last. Larger fires even more so. And as Bulldog stated hybrids are always more expensive.