Although the plan to acquire EV firetrucks has been in place in Los Angeles since 2020, they finally received the truck on the 14th of May.

As of a report released by the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) in 2019, there were over 69,000 fire engine pumpers (an engine capable of moving over 1000 gallons per minute) in the United States. Around 140 of those engines (and 43 trucks) belong to stations located in Los Angeles, California.

With over 150 years of manufacturing experience with firefighting technology, Rosenbauer has supplied many of those trucks. California is known for their EV-friendly initiatives and infrastructure, which they have introduced measures to increase and expand in coming years. With those statistics in mind alongside the fact that LA is known for making firefighting innovations, it makes sense that Los Angeles would receive America’s first electric vehicle (EV) version of the firetruck and that Rosenbauer would be the company to produce it.

Although the plan to acquire EV firetrucks has been in place in Los Angeles since 2020, they received the truck on May 14th. Service Station 82 will take possession of the truck, the Rosenbauer RTX, and will be able to boast having the only one in America and one of just four currently in use worldwide.

Let’s take a closer look at America’s very first EV firetruck!

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The Rosenbauer Group is one of the three largest manufacturers of emergency fire service vehicles and equipment in the world. Based in Leonding, Austria, the company supplies over one hundred countries with their manufacturing, which is made to both European and United States standards.

Since inception, the company has been dedicated to innovation in firefighting equipment manufacturing. In 1908, they began producing gas-powered pumps. In 1926, the new iteration of the company (Automobilspritzengesellschaft Lohner & Rosenbauer) shipped their first vehicle to China. Furthermore, in 1930, the company was capable of producing their own two-stroke engines. Later, these were supplied by BMW and Volkswagen. They began collaborating with Carvatech in the 1970s for the manufacturing of firefighting vehicle bodies.

From there, they continued to expand development and created the Falcon in the 1980s. The Falcon had a unique chassis developed specifically for firefighting vehicles and included many custom parts. Unfortunately, untested parts led to failures and downtimes that led to the failure of custom chassis firefighting vehicles in Europe. Rosenbauer did not let that set the company back for long, however, and has since expanded their activities into flying vehicles, water cannons, and firefighter outfitting with things such as helmets and uniforms.

In 2014, Rosenbauer introduced a concept model of their electric firetruck in Austria. As of 2021, the trucks were introduced in Berlin, Amsterdam, and Dubai. The company announced that they would begin building the EV version of the truck in their Minnesota plant starting in 2023 and would retail the trucks for between $1.1 and $1.2 million.

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The Rosenbauer RTX shared “core DNA” with the RT according to Rosenbauer but meets design specifications required for the United States rather than European standards. The vehicle was designed with the intent of being shipped to Los Angeles for use and the Fire Department for the city helped to develop the specifications of the truck.

The RTX has a 750-gallon water tank with the ability to pump out 750-1500 gallons per minute. The pumps can be driven by either the electric batteries or range extender. Up to 1000 feet of each five-inch and 2.5-inch hose can be handled by the hose bed.

The RTX can seat up to seven and has an equivalent horsepower of 490 peak (350 horsepower continuous) with 360 kW peak driving performance (260 kW continuous). The drivetrain is all-wheel drive with a dual electric motor powered by two Volvo Penta batteries that total 132 kWh of power.

The truck also comes with a range-extender in the form of a diesel engine that can act as a generator to help charge the batter pack. A BMW sourced 3.0 liter inline-six engine comes to life when the charge in the Volvo battery pack drops to 20% and can recharge the battery pack in about 45 minutes. In totality, Rosenbauer estimates that the truck can run two hours on the battery pack, and another six on diesel power.

The truck has adjustable air suspension that can give up to nineteen inches of ground clearance and allow the truck to ford at three feet of water depth. The truck is well-designed for use in the city with a “kneel” option to lower the truck height, so firefighters can more easily enter and exit the vehicle as well as a “crab walk” mode similar to that on the new GMC Hummer EV, which allows the vehicle to move diagonally to navigate tight spaces.

Los Angeles fire chief Kristin Crowley also noted that the trucks will reduce noise and reduce emissions. Overall, Rosenbauer and Los Angeles are looking at the future of firefighting in the form of the RTX and Rosenbauer noted that they expect an additional four hundred will be operating in North America by 2025 and 3200 globally by 2030.

Nikia Hunt inherited her love of cars from her dad as she grew up watching him work in his garage on everything from classics to diesel trucks. Currently a huge fan of American muscle and off-road-ready vehicles and with an acute interest in the future in EVs, Nikia splits her time between writing for HotCars and teaching high school language arts. Nikia has many contributive works in several creative writing publications and holds a Master's degree in English with emphasis in Creative Writing from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.