Volvo Penta has commenced production of bespoke electric drivelines for fire service vehicle manufacturer Rosenbauer’s pioneering fire truck, named ‘Revolutionary Technology’ (RT).
The RT pushed Volvo Penta’s electric drivelines to new heights. Unlike other Volvo Group EVs that might have two or sometimes three electric machines, the RT required four to do its job. All four electric machines have to be able to run simultaneously – two for propulsion, one for the range extender to provide extra battery power, and one for electric power takeoff, if fire-fighters want to rotate the foam pump for example.
Due to the required compact dimensions of a city fire truck, Volvo Penta created a new active cooling unit (ACU). This component was developed in part collaboration with Rosenbauer. The new ACU draws on a 600V system instead of the conventional 24V. This extra power allows Volvo Penta to not only cool the batteries but also offer cooling capacity to the Rosenbauer vehicle. This is one way Volvo Penta has optimized the design and adapted the complete electric driveline system for a specific vehicle, considering the exact application, usage, climate, and environment it will operate in.
Three Rosenbauer test firetrucks powered by Volvo Penta electric drivelines have already successfully been delivered to Berlin, Amsterdam, and Dubai.