The US first electric fire truck goes into service in Los Angeles

Rosenbaurer RTX is the world’s first electric fire truck and it is made in Austria. First prototypes hit the road back in 2019 and after extensive testing first pre-orders were taken in 2020, LAFD actually put its order in February of that year. The base price for the truck is $900,000 but the one that just entered the service in Los Angeles ended up costing $1.2 million.

The RTX is a purpose built electric truck with a range extender. The power is sent to all 4 wheels and with 490 HP peak output (360kW) this truck is not slow. It comes with 4 wheel steering that allows it to turn 180 degrees in a very tight spots and allows for diagonal driving - the famous “crab walk” is one of the tricks this truck can deploy. It has fully adjustable air suspension that can take it from just 7” (17.8 cm) of clearance to 19” (48.3 cm) in off-road mode that lets it wade through 3 feet (91.4 cm) of water.

The power comes from 2 Volvo Penta batteries with 132kWh capacity that gives the truck 2 hours of autonomy, we don't get a range here. Once the batteries run down to 20%, a 300 HP (224 kW) 6 cylinder BMW range extender kicks in that can either recharge the batteries in less than 2 hours or give the truck 6 more hours of operating time running on diesel. In theory this truck can operate for 8 hours if it leaves the fire station fully charged, and the range extender which can be refueled at any time.

Since the truck has been designed from the scratch as an electric fire engine, it comes with a lot of clever solutions. There is no engine or drive tunnel in the cab allowing the crew to move freely between the front and rear seats. Front seats swivel, rear seats lift up allowing plenty of room to move about.

RTX offers the latest in connectivity and digital vehicle control with the majority of functions being controlled from a central screen. Interestingly enough, only one battery is mounted flat under the floor, between the axles. The other battery is vertical and it separates the crew cab from the equipment - unusual solution but it was done to improve driving safety according to the company.

The water tank can hold as much as 750 Gallons (3,409 liters) and it is placed on the top of the first battery right in the middle of the chassis, improving stability while driving.

It’s really good to see the specialty side of the EV revolution picking up as well. We have heard of DHL buying Volvo trucks for its fleet, Tesla has finally opened order books for its long delayed Semi, we have Volta trucks launching its two models in Europe, FedEx chasing world records in delivery vans and then we have Ford not only launching the E-Transit Custom but the iconic F-150 Lightning.

Here's a full walk around video of the truck:

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