LAFD To Purchase First Electric Fire Engine In North America

Looks like it's off to a great start! Hopefully The old apparatus in quarters as a backup, they certainly are going to be needing it! You would think that the QC at the factory for this rig would have been above and beyond since it's a showpiece
 
mikeindabronx said:
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Thank you "mikeindabronx".

Good for a few laughs now , BUT the reality is, what happens when the first due company "IS" Charging the battery on the rig and they can NOT respond.

I suspect there could be a delay - NOT because their on another run, BUT because they really CAN'T RESPOND due to charging up the rig.
 
During my time at Brooklyn Union Gas, in 1993 they assigned me a brand new Dodge Spirit that ran on Natural Gas. They left the gasoline tank in the car and installed the Natural Gas cylinder in the truck. We referred to it as a dual fuel car instead of a dedicated Natural Gas vehicle where the gasoline tank was removed.

My office was in Metrotech and I use to fill the car up with NG at the Mobil Station on Flatbush and Dean. If the car ran out of NG, it would automatically switch to gasoline.

If they are serious about these Electric Fire Engines, they could consider a small tank that would hold say enough diesel to keep the truck operating for an hour. That should give the Department enough time to get resources to the fire including the Engine/Truck that may be in the process of changing. Just switch to diesel and respond and operate.

I‘m not sure what BUG uses today. I retired in 2005, but I do know my next vehicle after the Spirit was a 2000 Chevy S10 Blazer that ran on gasoline only. Go figure.
 
Rich M said:
If they are serious about these Electric Fire Engines, they could consider a small tank that would hold say enough diesel to keep the truck operating for an hour. That should give the Department enough time to get resources to the fire including the Engine/Truck that may be in the process of changing. Just switch to diesel and respond and operate.
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The problem with this idea is that unlike your Sprint, these trucks don't have a conventional IC engine, they just have electric motors for the drives. Thus in order to have a fuel tank that it could be switched over to they would have to install another complete drive system in the trucks.
 
Bulldog said:
The problem with this idea is that unlike your Sprint, these trucks don't have a conventional IC engine, they just have electric motors for the drives. Thus in order to have a fuel tank that it could be switched over to they would have to install another complete drive system in the trucks.
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I didn’t know that. So much for that idea.
 
Bulldog said:
The problem with this idea is that unlike your Sprint, these trucks don't have a conventional IC engine, they just have electric motors for the drives. Thus in order to have a fuel tank that it could be switched over to they would have to install another complete drive system in the trucks.
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They could probably have a diesel or gasoline generator on-board to power the electric motors for each wheel...but still added weight, space, and cost.
 
The Rosenbauer has a 3.0 Liter 300HP 6 Cylinder BMW Clean Diesel Engine as a backup. Don't know how long it would take to charge the batteries with it, but it would power the pump when necessary.
 

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These can operate for two hours on the batteries and another 4 hours with onboard generator.
 
Publicity stunt at the taxpayers expense. It makes the green side of the wheel say "look at the FD, they are going green" Forget the expense of operation and maintenance for a rig that will not last half the life of the other rigs. Madison WI took a different approach and it seems to be a bit more practical than the red lemon LAFD has in service. Just my humble opinion!
 
CFDMarshal said:
Publicity stunt at the taxpayers expense. It makes the green side of the wheel say "look at the FD, they are going green" Forget the expense of operation and maintenance for a rig that will not last half the life of the other rigs. Madison WI took a different approach and it seems to be a bit more practical than the red lemon LAFD has in service. Just my humble opinion!
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What approach did Madison take?
 
It costs $350,000 more than a conventional fire engine! I love the fact that it's on the streets and Hollywood, talk about just showing out to the public!
 
Where does the SCBA go? I noticed all the seats in the cab do not have the built-in spot for the bottles. Also, this could just be me, but it seems there's hardly any room for a substantial length of hose on this "rig".
 
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