Fire brigade fleets are usually associated with big fire trucks, off-road-capable vehicles, and motorcycles, but Opel’s latest one-off is quite different. The automaker presented a special version of the Rocks-e heavy quadricycle that joined their fire brigade fleet for the Rüsselsheim plant in Germany.
For its new role, the EV got a fitting fire-red livery with yellow accents, additional flashing lights, and graphics with emergency numbers. Inside, firefighters place their tools under the passenger seat and in the footwell, since the one-off is not based on the Kargo variant but on the regular Rocks-e. Interestingly, the conversion was undertaken by firemen with the help of the Advanced Engineering and OSV (Opel Special Vehicles) departments.
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Predictably, the Opel Rocks-e is the smallest vehicle in the fire brigade’s fleet, measuring 2,410 mm (94.9 inches) long and 1.39 m (54.7 inches) wide, with a turning radius of 7.2 m (283 inches). Still, its role is not to put out fires or to carry heavy equipment, but to be agile and easily maneuverable in order to reach every corner of the Rüsselsheim facilities. The small footprint in combination with the zero-emission powertrain, allows the vehicle to be driven even inside the buildings when needed, saving time in daily tasks
The Opel Rocks-e is a sister model to the Citroen Ami, coming with a tiny 8 hp (6 kW / 8 PS) electric motor and a 5.5 kWh battery. The top speed is limited to 45 km/h (32 mph) so firemen should be in no rush, while the limited range of 75 km (47 miles) should be enough for covering the 1.9 square km (469.5 acres) of the Rüsselsheim factory. If you think that EVs are not suitable for the fire brigade you should probably reconsider, because the LAFD recently took delivery of its first electric fire truck in North America.
This is not the first time a Stellantis heavy quadricycle assumes different kinds of duties, since last year, a pair of Citroen Amis were donated to the police and coast guard on the Greek island of Chalki.
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