All Access

Climate Deals

Standard

Climate Deals Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble

Climate Deals Alerts

Alert

mustard

BFD Expert Voices - Climate Deals

BFD Expert Voices

Excited as I was to experience an electric fire engine firsthand, I didn't fully understand the rationale for one. Even the crunchiest climate advocate can tolerate fueling a life-saving truck with diesel.

The big picture: Employee health and climate concerns are the essential drivers of municipal purchases of fire trucks.

Zoom in: When I visited San Diego's Torrey Pines Fire Station, I saw a box next to the passenger door.

"That for me?" I asked, assuming the crew had put it there as a courtesy to help me climb into the tall cab of their gleaming new Pierce Volterra pumper. 

"They're for us," Capt. Cameron Snyder responded — pointing out the boxes in front of every other door to the engine.  

Taking that big step up and down through the decades of a long career, he explained, wears on the body. 

The intrigue: That outlook immediately crystallized why American towns and cities are buying — and manufacturers like Pierce are building — battery-powered fire trucks.

"It's not a cost-savings measure," San Diego Deputy Fire Chief Ted Moran said. "It has to be health-driven, and it has to be climate-driven." 

Follow the money: The engine cost the department $2.1 million, plus another $600,000 for a pair of charging systems.

That's about twice the price of a conventional fire engine, Moran says. The purchase was part of a $22 million makeover of the department's Station 52. 

Yes, but: The Pierce Volterra, unlike any conventional fire engine, produces zero air pollution and is whisper-quiet. 

Zoom in: "We live here; a third of my life is spent in a firehouse," engineer Kevin Taddonio tells Axios Pro. "It's pulling into your own house and not having those particulates."

The near-silent operation meanwhile reduces the risk of long-term hearing loss and makes for safer roadside emergency scenes.

"I can hear traffic coming," Taddonio says.

Reality check: The Volterra has a backup diesel engine that kicks in as soon as the battery is depleted — after roughly 90 minutes of continuous water-pumping at a fire.

The hybrid approach enables the Volterra and its crew to stay on-scene. But the diesel engine is roughly half the size of a normal engine, limiting driving power.

What's next: San Diego plans to continue buying diesel-powered fire trucks. At each new station it builds — roughly one every five years, Moran says — it'll replace one of the engines with an electric model. 

Electric fire truck purchases are driven by employee health and climate concerns

Employee health and climate concerns are the key drivers of municipal purchases of electric fire trucks.

Red fire engine parked in front of a large dark gray industrial building under a cloudy sky; chrome details, ladders, and emergency lights visible, with San Diego Fire-Rescue branding.

The battery-driven Pierce Volterra pumper at San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Station 52 is almost indistinguishable from a conventional diesel-powered fire engine. Photos: Alan Neuhauser/Axios

Excited as I was to experience an electric fire engine firsthand, I didn&#x27;t fully understand the rationale for one. Even the crunchiest climate advocate can tolerate fueling a life-saving truck with diesel.The big picture: Employee health and climate concerns are the essential drivers of municipal purchases of fire trucks.

topics

politics-policy

epstein-files

donald-trump

2026-midterm-elections

immigration

behind-the-curtain

race-and-equity

technology

privacy-tech-regulation

automation-and-ai

tiktok-news

big-tech

social-media

cybersecurity

economy

social-security

inflation

tariffs

federal-reserve

transportation

business

c-suite

retail-news

media

elon-musk

dealmaking

health

rfk-jr

drug-prices

axios-explains-abortion

public-health

world

israel

axios-explains-ukraine

iran

russia

china

energy-climate

nuclear-energy

climate-energy-policy

climate-change

extreme-weather

alternative-energy

electric-vehicles

science

emerging-tech

biomedicine

newsletters

charlotte

salt-lake-city

denver

fort-lauderdale

cincinnati

scottsdale

boulder

kansas-city

austin

chicago

dallas

detroit

atlanta

indianapolis

nashville

nw-arkansas

columbus

hollywood

washington-dc

north-of-cincy

mesa

richmond

san-francisco

boston

des-moines

houston

phoenix

miami

philadelphia

seattle

new-orleans

colorado-springs

huntsville

raleigh

san-antonio

twin-cities

pittsburgh

san-diego

tampa-bay

portland

cleveland

arapahoe

douglas

axios-local

axios-pro

axios-live

the-axios-show

Electric fire truck purchases are driven by employee health and climate concerns

What to read next