Electrified fire trucks:
It can drive for up to 30 minutes on pure electric power, with a diesel generator for backup power.
Source: Fire Truck – Electric Fire Truck – Electric Vehicles
On the plus side, most fire trucks travel limited distances from their station to an emergency scene (by design) making them ideal for EV platforms with limited range. Of course they occasionally travel longer distances for out of district support and training.
During a fire, the truck must also power large water pumps. However, the majority of fire engine responses are not for fighting fires. When I was a volunteer firefighter, about 2% of calls were for fires, about 10%+ for vehicle accidents, and almost 90% for medical aid. Each department will have different ratios, of course.
On the negative side, the typical city fire truck averages about 5,000 miles per year: converting to EV platforms has little impact on overall CO2 emissions compared to other options. They just don’t drive very far (by design!). By comparison, a typical large diesel semi truck used in transportation travels almost 70,000 miles per year. Which EV conversion would have a larger impact on CO2 emissions?
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New ICE fire trucks appear to now cost about $500,000 and up; prices have risen rapidly in recent years due to new safety requirements from the NFPA and that new trucks are generally larger than the vehicles they are replacing. Paying $1 million and more for a fire truck has become routine – which seems pretty obscene but no one bats an eye because public safety.
