The Zero Emission Pumping Appliance 2 (ZEPA2) project aims to build a fully operational zero emission electric fire engine equipped with innovative energy management technologies. This initiative, led by Equipmake and supported by Emergency One, the London Fire Brigade, and Cenex, seeks to advance the decarbonisation of emergency vehicles by demonstrating vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) energy transfer to allow appliances to remain on site at incidents by drawing power from another vehicle – or perhaps as a future option a dedicated battery recharging truck.

Following the fire appliance’s debut at Cenex Expo, it will be trialled by the London Fire Brigade.

During the project, which runs from October 2024-September 2025, Cenex will use its unrivalled experience in the blue light sector to:

1. Investigate the appetite for, and understand the requirements for, this V2V functionality from other fire services, as well as potentially other emergency services.
2. Model the energy requirements for pumping appliance energy usage in various scenarios based on real-world data supplied by emergency service.
3. Explore additional market applications for V2V and vehicle-to-everything (V2X).
4. Plan for future demonstration activities of the technology
5. Lead project dissemination activities, including the vehicle’s demonstration at Cenex Expo.

Equipmake and Emergency One will develop a fully functional all-electric fire appliance designed for zero emission operations capable of V2V energy transfer.

Cenex will work with blue light fleets to understand their needs and to model their energy usage requirements under different operational scenarios.

The work of all partners will support the decarbonisation of emergency vehicle fleets by providing resilience in responding to incidents as part of a future zero emission transition.