(Credit: Spartan Emergency Response)The Charlotte Fire Department has ordered an electric fire truck to be housed in its planned all-electric firehouse that is set to open in 2024.
The truck will be equipped with 327-kilowatt hours of energy capacity and it will have the longest electric pumping duration in the industry, according to Spartan Emergency Response, which will provide the vehicle. That will give the fire department the capability to accomplish typical driving and pumping operations exclusively on electrically generated power.
Spartan Emergency Response, a subsidiary of REV Group, says the all-electric Vector fire truck is expected to be the first of its kind in North Carolina as well as across the southeastern United States.
The fire truck will operate out of an all-electric fire station that is being built in Charlotte. The 14,000-square-foot facility is part of a more than $20 million budget to build new fire facilities. Charlotte Fire Station 30, will house the electric truck, charging infrastructure, and additional sustainable elements to make it an all-electric facility.
The Charlotte Fire Department says the Vector truck will also save nearly 20 metric tons of carbon emissions. The City of Charlotte has a target to have its fleet and facilities powered by 100% zero-carbon sources by 2030 and to be a low-carbon city by 2050.
The fire truck is designed similarly to the fire department’s current fleet of trucks, with the same working features. The design also features low battery cell placement, which will provide a lower center of gravity for increased stability while the truck is being operated.
Transitioning to electric vehicles and fleets is increasing among municipalities, school districts, and other organizations. School buses and public transportation has seen an uptick in the implementation of the vehicles. The Inflation Reduction Act includes $1 billion in incentives to increase the commercial use of heavy-duty vehicles such as school buses and garbage trucks.
Earlier this year Los Angeles debuted the first electric fire truck in service in the United States. That fire truck can travel 62 miles on one charge, and had gone on approximately 100 calls in its first week, according to a report by KTLA. The Los Angeles fire truck has a 132 kWh battery.
REV Fire Group introduced the Vector fire truck in August 2021. Atlantic Coast Fire Trucks is handling the order and delivery of the truck, which is expected in 2024.
