Carlow Fire Station launched the first tender in the world combining state-of-the-art software with hydrotreated vegetable oil.
Built locally in Tullow, the sustainable vehicle will see its carbon footprint slashed by 95% compared to diesel engines.
A key safety feature is the Vehicle-to-Vehicle Digital Alerting, which provides other road users with more time to slow down, move over and avoid the scene
The €462,000 engine, built locally over six months in Tullow by HPMP Fire Ltd, will be ready to respond to emergencies by early September.
Preliminary tests on new features have been carried out following the vehicle’s arrival in Carlow town in July and training will be conducted in the first week of September.
The vehicle was entirely funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage through the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management’s Fire Service Capital Programme.
It is also solar-powered, uses vehicle intelligent software – and in addition to the green fuel, will see its carbon footprint slashed by 95% compared to diesel engines.
Its speed, acceleration and overall performance is on par with a regular diesel equivalent.
Six crew members can travel in the vehicle, which will initially be allocated to Carlow Fire Station.
