Electric vehicles have their merits but also represent a big challenge for firefighters. Battery fires are very difficult to distinguish, especially when they take place in car parks where conventional fire trucks have little or no access. This is exactly the mission of the Hiload 6×6 Rapid Intervention Vehicle created by UK firm ProSpeed, using a Toyota Hilux pickup truck as a base.
The vehicle features an “entirely new chassis” and “torque splitter” for the 6×6 conversion. The Hiload moniker was chosen for a good reason, as the 3,000 kg (6,614 lbs) payload has tripled compared to the Toyota Hilux and other pickups from the same segment. The gross vehicle weight is 5,600 kg (12,346 pounds), and the loading area has been extended by 1,230 mm (48.4 inches) allowing the Hiload to carry plenty of water and all the necessary equipment.
Read: LAFD Takes Delivery Of First Electric Fire Truck In North America
The total height of 1,850 mm (72.8 inches) is low enough to fit in most of the underground and multi-story car parks. At the same time, the generous ground clearance, and the high levels of grip from the six off-road tires make the Hiload a fitting vehicle for extinguishing forest fires, carrying a lot more water and kit than standard pickups in rough terrains. Besides the extended tail and the extra set of wheels, other exterior modifications include the off-road bumper, the roof rack, and the extra LEDs.
A Fire Extinguishing System That Pierces Holes
The company admits that EVs are “statistically less likely to catch fire” than ICE-powered vehicles, but the lithium-ion battery packs make them “far more serious and difficult to extinguish”. Immersing the entire vehicle in a large container filled with water and leaving it to rest for days is not the most practical solution, while the traditional technique of pumping thousands of liters of water is not what you would call efficient.
This is why ProSpeed retrofitted the Hiload 6×6 with an innovative fire extinguishing system called Coldcut Cobra. An abrasive pierces a hole through the floor of the vehicle, allowing water to be injected inside the battery casing at very high pressure (300 bar), eventually cooling down the modules and preventing propagation. Independent tests proved that the Coldcut Cobra “could prevent cell propagation within 10 minutes, using just 240 liters of water” which is only 20% of the capacity of the Hiload’s water tank.
The Hiload 6×6 is engineered and assembled in York, England, and is currently tested in the Czech Republic. Prospeed says that it is already part of an EV manufacturer’s firefighting fleet without clarifying which brand it is talking about.
Besides selling it as a completed vehicle for an undisclosed price, the company can ship the 6×6 conversion module to export markets and is willing to license the design for higher-volume production. Finally, Prospeed is offering similar 4×4 and 6×6 conversions designed as utility vehicles for the military.
