- The modified Toyota Hilux fire truck features the Coldcut Cobra system to extinguish electric vehicle battery fires at an early stage.
- The 6×6 conversion increases the truck’s payload, while giving it great off-road flexibility.
- The truck is small enough to enter basement and multi-story parking structures where regular fire trucks cannot.
The era of electrification has brought not only new car manufacturing techniques, but also new types of traffic accidents. At first, it took time for fire departments in the United States to adapt to traffic accidents involving electric vehicles, not only when dealing with battery fires, but also finding and disconnecting 12-volt batteries and handling other systems in cases where there have been. it is not a fire.
Since then, automakers have made many training documents available to first responders around the country, detailing various points of access to electric vehicles. But that doesn’t mean battery fires have gotten any easier to fight, even though they require up to 8,000 gallons of water in cases where first responders decided to put out the fire, rather than let it burn. burn for several hours. Getting to the scene of the fire can often be complicated for firefighters, in cases where electric vehicle fires break out in multi-level garage structures or basement garages.
UK-based Prospeed Motorsport has developed a new type of fire truck specifically for electric vehicle battery fires early in the process, to prevent the fire from spreading.
Based on a modified 6×6 version of the Toyota Hilux pickup truck with a new chassis, stretched by 48.4 inches, the Hiload 6×6 fire truck is small enough to enter parking structures. The truck features the Coldcut Cobra system for fighting electric vehicle battery fires, which uses an abrasive suspended in water that can cut through the floor of an electric vehicle and inject water at a pressure of 300 bar (ie more 100 times the air pressure in an electric vehicle). car tire) to the battery module in case of thermal runaway. This has the effect of cooling the battery inside the module and preventing the spread of a battery fire.
“Unlike alternatives that involve pumping thousands of liters of water into the vehicle to try to cool the entire battery, independent tests by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency showed that the Coldcut Cobra system could prevent the spread of cells cells in 10 minutes, using only 240 liters of water. “That’s less than a full bath and 20% of the Hiload’s tank capacity,” notes Prospeed.
The truck offers a payload of 6613 pounds, which is about three times that of a standard Hilux, and boasts a gross vehicle weight of 12,346 pounds. In addition, the truck is much more agile off-road than most others and can easily travel over unpaved surfaces, while being light enough not to get bogged down in farmland due to its weight. At 72.8 inches tall, it’s also short enough to fit into most garage structures. And it’s just as effective at fighting internal combustion vehicle fires, the company says, even though it’s primarily intended for electric vehicle fires.
The truck is currently being tested in the Czech Republic, and its developer is also working on a version with even more payload capacity.
We are more than a few years away from all fire departments being able to quickly extinguish electric vehicle battery fires at various stages. A fire truck may have equipment on board, but if that equipment is not mobile enough to enter a parking structure, that severely limits the options for first responders.
“Previous ways to prevent or fight fire involve extreme measures like submerging the entire car in water for days in large bags or shipping containers,” notes Prospeed.
Prospeed’s Hiload 6×6 has already been purchased by an electric vehicle manufacturer.
Has the threat of electric vehicle battery fires stopped you from considering buying an electric vehicle, or is it not a major concern? Let us know in the comments below.
