
London Ambulance Service/NHS
Excerpts from electrek.com:
London’s ambulance service already has 42 Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles in its emergency fleet, but now it’s adding 12 all-electric ambulances designed by Ford for emissions-free response – and the first full-service electric ambulances in the city. London is pouring some $39 million into “greening up” its emergency vehicles.
To make the all-electric ambulances, Ford collaborated with specialist converter WAS to come up with creative solutions to meet a few specific needs for London. For one, the ambulance “can sustain a 12-hour shift,” can power essential functions like heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and auxiliary supplies, according to the UK’s National Health Service. Plus it comes with a few neat features, like the ability to scan the vehicle to make sure it’s fully stocked and ready to go after a patient has been treated.
Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of the London Ambulance Service, called these vehicles a “game changer for ambulance designs across the world.”
“We’ve had electric patient transport vehicles and support vehicles, but until now, we haven’t had an electric ambulance responding to life-threatening emergencies in London,” he said. “Not only will these ambulances help us deliver outstanding care to our patients, they are critical to our efforts to cut our environmental impact and play our part improving London’s air quality.”
The vehicles come equipped a powered trolley bed system, a powered carry chair, and an integrated scanning system that checks and updates the ambulance’s inventory after each patient.
The first four ambulances have been delivered as part of the initial batch of 12, arriving in a few months, part of a larger order piloted by NHS England’s Net Zero Travel and Transport team. Collaborating with the London Ambulance Service and four other ambulance trusts, this initiative aims to gather real-life data to guide the future deployment of zero-emission emergency ambulances.
London has the largest emergency fleet of EVs in the UK, with 42 electric fast-response cars (the aforementioned Ford Mach-Es) and three electric motorcycles. In total, the fleet has 160 zero-emission vehicles. Ambulance stations, too, come equipped with 56 charging stations to keep their vehicles juiced and ready to roll.
The UK government aims to allow only zero-emission cars and vans from 2030, with the NHS responsible for 4% of UK greenhouse gas emissions every year.
New York tech and mobile healthcare company DocGo also has a zero-emission ambulance, reportedly based on the Ford E-Transit, with 100 vehicles in New York City, but it also operates in cities such as Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Nashville, as well as in Canada and the UK.
thanks Martin
#1 by John on January 21, 2024 - 4:44 PM
RTX for Brampton on 294 S near Bridgeview IL
Pictures in link
#2 by crabbymilton on January 18, 2024 - 8:51 AM
They could have been honest about it and called them hybrids. A hybrid ambulance would have been the best of both worlds since you know you would have an engine to keep you going. If you get a chance, check out MOTORCOACH WORLD’s YOUTUBE channel. James Wang(bus driver out of Peoria) was asked to test drive a VAN-HOOL TD25E which is the EV version of their over the road double deck coach. They went from CA. to FL. and while the bus itself worked pretty well, they had a horrible time with the chargers along the way being very temperamental and uncooperative. Granted, James has an easy going sense of humor but the problems just the same. This was in a warm region but just imagine this bus in the midwest in cold and snow with batteries being fussy in cold weather. James only took his wife and 2 daughter plus another driver and his wife. Imagine a bus full of grouchy and inpatient passengers waiting for a charge and the charger won’t work. Granted, FD’s and private ambulance operators will have their own chargers. But there are way too many unknowns how long the batteries will hold up in extreme weather.
#3 by Mike C on January 18, 2024 - 7:55 AM
Good point, Crabby!
I also find it funny the REV Group, Pierce, and Rosenbauer all say they have an “electric” fire engine. What a massive scam! They all have diesel engines in them too and they cost a ton of money!
Better yet, did you know the L.A.’s electric Rosenbauer at FDIC was shipped on a diesel flatbed round trip two years in a row? Unreal!
#4 by Crabbymilton on January 18, 2024 - 5:52 AM
EV’s are troublesome enough as non emergency use. I’m still laughing at the story about all of those EV’s cluttering up the charging stations in Chicago because the cars won’t either take the charge or it’s just taking a really really long time to do so because of the cold. Or the guy who comes home to O’Hare to fine his EV completely dead. Sure it may be a huge inconvenience but in an ambulance, it’s a gamble since those things require more juice than your family car to begin with. Compound that with cold weather and not much good can come out of it other than the green types wetting their pants because they don’t have those evil gasoline or diesel engines.