A German Fire team was blindly trusted in its diesel trucks. They discovered that the electric were better
“We cannot trust experiments in an emergency.” It was, without any doubt, the most repeated phrase in the fire department of the Garching Campus of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) when they considered replacing their diesel trucks with electric. At least, that’s what they assure from the University itself. The phrase was repeated to satiety by their own firefighters during internal surveys. The rejection was widespread for the delicate of the matter: to change the reliability of their diesel trucks for a technology with which many of them had not had contact. The most repeated doubts, collect the companions of Motorpasionwere their load times, the reliability of trucks and even safety during operations. All these concerns seem to have disappeared. And, for those who have not disappeared, there is an expected security network. No, autonomy is not a problem either A year later, everyone seems to be delighted with change. The Fire Park now uses a 66 kWh capacity battery, engines that generate 490 hp and, the small trick, an autonomy extensor that is put into a marking with a six online cylinders that generates another 301 hp diesel. Regarding your capacity techniqueIt has a 2,000 -liter water tank and another 125 liters of Igniphuga foam and, despite being electric, a half -meter Vadeo capacity. That is, at the technical level, there is no substantial difference between an electric truck and a traditional diesel. We said the little trick is in that diesel generator. And it is that the truck is, in reality, an electric of extended autonomy that allows it to have a safety network. This type of vehicles are designed to be used as almost always electric and the combustion engine is nothing more than an emergency solution. In fact, they are usually engines that are used as an electric generator, producing electricity to a battery that feeds the engines. The solution is very widespread in China And, in fact, brands like Hyundai either Mazda They have cars that apply this technology. In the case of an electric firefighter truck, the solution does not go so through the autonomy available to travel (in a city they should be short distances) but to “skip” the load of the truck in case of requiring several interventions in a short time. Because, at the level of interventions, according to your data only 3% They need to turn on the diesel engine to be able to supply energy to the water pump. This, obviously, needs to pull the vehicle’s energy but is not until after half an hour when the battery is exhausted and need to turn on the diesel propeller. “In more than 97% of operations it is not necessary”, They emphasize. Saved that first and important stumbling block, from the fire team seem to be delighted with the new vehicle. They point out that without engine noise they can communicate better between them, both to speak directly and to understand what is being said on the radio. In its article, the German University emphasizes that it is a clear improvement within the vehicle but also for those who work outside it. “This allows us to communicate much better among us, which is great. You can also understand the radio and your colleagues without any problem, so you do not have to continue asking questions, a great gain in safety and comfort.” From the Fire Department they say that “our experience shows that electric mobility works for the Fire Department. I hope that many more fire departments follow their example. In any case, there is a lot of interest: we regularly receive consultations about our experiences.” The next step, they say, will be to install solar panels to load the trucks. Photo | Technical University of Munich (Tum) and Jai Heike In Xataka | Turn off electric cars, according to firefighters: self -colombing, twice water and triggered temperatures
