The electrification engineering specialist
Equipmake, which is developing a range of integrated electrification products for the automotive, aerospace, bus, coach and off-highway industries, has been awarded £350,000 in funding from the
Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) for the co-development of an electric fire truck under a project, called ZEPA (zero-emission pumping appliance).
The project is a collaboration between Equipmake, the emergency vehicle manufacturer
Emergency One, the
London Fire Brigade, and
Cenex (the Low Carbon and Fuel Cells Centre of Excellence — an independent non-profit research and consultancy that helps private and public sector organisations devise ULEV strategies that is based in Loughborough).
With funding from the APC’s ‘Advanced Route to Market Demonstrator’ competition (ARMD3), the consortium — led by Equipmake — will now develop an all-electric zero-emission fire truck over the coming 12 months. Following the fire truck’s debut at the
CENEX Expo 2025, the vehicle will be extensively trialled by the London Fire Brigade.
Equipmake’s CEO Ian Foley said: “On behalf of the consortium, we are delighted that project ZEPA has been selected for crucial funding that will support the development of a much-needed fully electric specialist emergency vehicle. Equipmake is a sector-leader not only in the design, development and manufacture of electric powertrain technology for use in heavy vehicles but also in energy management development.”
Equipmake also has an agreement in place to license certain products from its range of electric drive motors, inverter, and electric powertrain technology to Sona Comstar — a global automotive systems and components manufacturer, headquartered in India — for applications in electric cars, buses, commercial vehicles and off-road vehicles in India, Thailand and other South Asian countries.
In addition, Equipmake has ‘technology supply arrangements’ for its lightweight, high-performance motors in the aerospace sector with H55 and Vertical Aerospace, as well as Gilmour Space in the space sector. In the automotive world, Equipmake supplies its high-performance ASIL-D certified, silicon carbide inverters to the electric hypercar brand, Rimac.