City of Palm Desert's brand new CNG-powered ambulance
The City of Palm Desert will celebrate the unveiling of the community’s new compressed natural gas-powered ambulance and medic unit, claimed by the city to be the first of its kind in the United States on January 22. Confronted with the need to replace an aging diesel ambulance and medic unit in February 2009, the Palm Desert City Council directed staff to explore the possibility of purchasing an ambulance powered by compressed natural gas (CNG), a fuel that burns much cleaner than gasoline or diesel and that has the added benefit of being domestically produced.
Because CNG-powered ambulances did not exist in the United States, City staff decided to modify existing ambulance components, purchasing a Frazer Type III 14-foot patient compartment and a 2009 Ford E450 6.8L gasoline chassis, combining these elements and changing them to allow the installation of a dedicated CNG engine and three cylinders carrying approx 30 gge, or 26 gallons equivalent of CNG, for a total cost of approximately USD 186,000.
Powered by "Clean Natural Gas"
A city spokesperson said Frazer Ambulance, a Texas-based builder of self-contained generated power ambulances, and BAF Technologies, a specialized natural gas vehicle conversion company also based in Texas, worked together to convert the ambulance to use compressed natural gas.
The unit will be based at Fire Station 71, located at Portola Avenue and Country Club Drive, where it is scheduled to start responding to calls. Station 71 was selected because of its very high call volume, with an average of 200 ambulance calls per month.
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