Revolutionary fire engine developed in UK to tackle EV and car park fires
Tue, 25 Apr 2023
A British company has developed a fire fighting vehicle designed specifically to fight both conventional and electric vehicle fires in car parks.
The HILOAD 6x6 Rapid Intervention Vehicle (RIV) has the unique ability to access underground and multi-storey car parks, carrying crew, water and innovative fire extinguishing equipment to previously inaccessible locations.
The HILOAD 6x6 RIV is based on the British-built HILOAD, engineered by Prospeed Motorsport in York. It uses a Toyota Hilux as a donor, fitted with an entirely new chassis to avoid a compromised ‘cut and shut’ of the original frame.
With the replacement chassis and a torque splitter system, the 6x6 has a Gross Vehicle Weight of 5600kg, which offers a payload of 3000kg, almost triple the standard 4x4 Hilux’s capacity.
The load-space is extended by 1230mm but although longer, the HILOAD’s height is just 1850mm - less than some large SUVs and low enough to allow access to the majority of parking structures, resulting in a lower centre of gravity and better stability in high-speed manoeuvres.
The HILOAD can also be fitted with the Coldcut Cobra system for extinguishing electric vehicle battery fires. The Cobra Ultra High Pressure Lance system uses an abrasive suspended in water to pierce a hole through floor pans and inject water at 300bar – more than 100 times the pressure of the air in a typical car tyre.
This water cools directly inside the battery and thus prevents propagation and further possibility of a thermal runaway.
The HILOAD 6x6 RIV is currently being trialled in the Czech Republic, with the vehicle specifically developed to tackle electric vehicle battery fires and assist with fast response occupant extraction. It is already part of one electric vehicle car manufacturer’s firefighting fleet.
Apart from urban car park environments, the enhanced traction and reduced ground pressure resulting from a 6-wheel drive set-up can also prove invaluable for tackling fires in remote and challenging environments, such as forests and heathland.
The increase in electric vehicles on the roads is causing concerns among firefighters.
Although electric cars are less likely to catch fire than internal combustion engine cars, incidents involving a lithium-ion battery can be far more serious and difficult to extinguish, particularly if they occur in enclosed spaces such as underground or multi-storey car parks, which large fire engines cannot access.
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