Rosenbauer Travels Through Half Of Europe With Its Electric Firefighting Vehicle

24 Nov 2021

Since mid-August, Rosenbauer has been on the road in Western and Central Europe with two vehicles of the "Revolutionary Technology" series (RT), demonstrating the reliability and robustness of the electric tank firefighting vehicle. A total of ten countries will be visited by mid-December and more than 25,000 kilometers will be covered, which is roughly equivalent to the mileage of this type of vehicle over its entire service life in urban use.

"The RT is not a further development of a vehicle concept that the fire services already know, but a completely new development, a real technological innovation. You have to physically see something like this, touch it, and try it out to be able to judge what benefits and uses it offers," says Dieter Siegel, CEO of Rosenbauer International AG. The participants in the presentations and demonstrations are overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the RT's hitherto unique functionality and performance.

Who is interested in the RT?

The RT is designed as a tank firefighting vehicle for municipal use. Most interest is being shown by fire departments in large cities and metropolitan regions, because they want to, or in some cases have to, make a contribution to reducing the CO2 emissions of urban fleets with electrified emergency vehicles. The RT is already in regular use in Berlin, in Amsterdam it is being trained on, and in Basel the first fleet (four vehicles) will enter service in 2023.

The RT is currently on a tour of several weeks through Germany and will be presented in the Benelux countries in the spring of 2022

As part of the European tour, a Rosenbauer team traveled to numerous metropolitan areas with the RT. First and foremost the C40 cities of Barcelona, Copenhagen, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, and Warsaw. People also wanted to see the vehicle in Aarhus and Roskilde (Denmark), Stuttgart and Cologne (Germany), Strasbourg and Lyon (France), Geneva and Lausanne (Switzerland), to name just a few of the stops.

Last year, the fire departments in Oslo and Stockholm were already able to get a first-hand look of the advantages of the CFT concept vehicle. The RT is currently on a tour of several weeks through Germany and will be presented in the Benelux countries in spring of 2022.

Plant and airport fire departments

In addition to municipal fire departments, plant and airport fire departments are also showing increasing interest in the RT. In Switzerland, for example, Schutz & Rettung Zürich, the Zurich building insurance company, and the CERN research center. In France, decision-makers and users from Aeroports de Paris (operator of Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Le Bourget airports) wanted to get to know the vehicle.

Representatives from Airbus, the Spanish airport operator AENA and the civil protection organization UME (Unidad Militar de Emergencias) took part in a presentation in Madrid. As part of the tour through Germany, the vehicle was presented at Porsche in Stuttgart and further appearances are planned at VW in Wolfsburg, Audi in Neckarsulm, Tesla in Grünheide, Evonic in Worms, Pharmaserv in Marburg and at the Stuttgart, Cologne/Bonn, and Leipzig airports.

Trade fair and special appearances

Several trade fair appearances were also on the agenda as part of the RT Europe Tour. For example, the vehicle was on display at the Danish fire service fair Danske Beredskabers Årsmøde at the end of August, at the Emergency Service Show in Birmingham and Zivil Protect in Bolzano in September, and at REAS in Montichiari, Italy, and at the Congrés National des Sapeurs-Pompiers de France in Marseilles in October.

The RT made special appearances at the "Green Future Poland & Austria" business forum in Warsaw, at a reception hosted by the Austrian ambassador in Madrid and at the "Innovative Mobility for Future" event at the Salzburgring.

Endurance tests passed

The RT had to pass endurance tests on its European tour and was challenged the most during an exercise in the Swiss mountains All journeys and presentations, except for the sea transport to England and the Marseille - Madrid leg, were completed by the RT on its own. The overland distances were covered with the support of the range extender. The inner-city short trips and demonstrations were completed purely on battery power. Charging the batteries took between 30 and 45 minutes at various superchargers (state of charge SOC 20-100%).

The RT also had to pass some special endurance tests on its European tour. Above all, the vehicle was put through its paces in the fire service training centers. Visits included the institute of the fire department of North Rhine-Westphalia, the largest fire service training center in Germany, the Riedikon training center in Switzerland, and the training center of the Italian Ministry of the Interior in Montelibretti near Rome.

The RT was challenged the most during an exercise in the Swiss mountains, as Rosenbauer employee Werner Wolfschluckner reports: "After a steep drive over several kilometres and a measured gradient of approx. 22%, extremely narrow roads with hairpin bends and construction sites, Rosenbauer completed a forest fire extinguishing exercise at 1,000 m above sea level. Conclusion: Driver and machine brought to the limit, but everything mastered with flying colors!"