The City of Vancouver is on track to receive Canada’s first electric firetruck, but it will still be a while until we see it responding to emergency calls.
As part of their goal to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 60% by 2030, the city has recently ordered a Rosenbauer RT pumper truck.
It is expected to be in service by mid-2023 according to Deputy fire chief Tyler Moore.
Built by Austrian company Rosenbauer International, the electric fire truck will cost the city $1.5 million. That is about $300,000 more expensive than the conventional diesel powered firetrucks.
The RT is capable of about 100km (62 miles) on a full charge, which is more than enough for the typical emergency call.
If the truck needs to travel further, or stay functional for longer than 90 minutes, it will also have a diesel range extender to make sure it can get the job done.
But it shouldn’t need to use that reserve very often. The first city to test the Rosenbauer RT is Berlin. In 440 runs with the electric fire truck, it used electricity 99.81% of the time, consuming just 8 liters of diesel.
In 2019 Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services got an up-close look at a prototype Rosenbauer RT while it was travelling around North America on a sales tour.
Vancouver will become the second city in North America to have an electric fire truck, behind only Los Angeles.
Brampton, Ontario also has one on order, but they are not expected to receive it until after Vancouver, Moore told the Vancouver Sun.
City of Brampton orders first electric fire truck in Ontario
