[NEW] First Electric Doctor Car In The Czech Republic - Hradec Kralove Ambulance Service [5.2024]

A tour of the new physician response vehicle 170 of the Hradec Kralove Region Emergency Medical Services. Details below 🔽
This Volkswagen ID.4 GTX (4-wheel drive)/ FDservis went into service in early May 2024. Hradec Kralove Region EMS stated lower operating cost and less maintenance as the primary reasons for this purchase. The driver of the vehicle told me that it drives normally on regular roads but a little worse than a Skoda Kodiaq when driving off road.
ELECTRIC VEHICLE DISCUSSION - EV RANGE
Electric cars being used by emergency services are a frequently and sometimes heavily discussed topic. There are pro and contra arguments in this discussion. For example I see performance and theoretically lower maintenance & operating cost as the only benefits while the use of rare earths as a downside of EVs in general.
A frequently mentioned downside and concern is the range of EVs but in the case of this car, it should be no concern at all.
This vehicle has a range of 480Km (300 miles). On average this doctor car travels 55Km (34 miles) in 24 hours on an estimated 5 - 10 calls. So it's not an extremely busy vehicle and usually does spend quite some time at the EMS station in between where it can charge. One paramedic who drives this car told me that his personal record was around 110Km (68 miles) per day.
Theoretically it would take a lot to reach range limits with this car. Experiences within the winter months would certainly be very interesting to know. I am planning to update this description during or after the 2024/2025 winter season.
LIGHTS & SIRENS
This vehicle features complete Whelen lights & sirens package which includes:
- a Legacy lightbar which I see as an ideal choice for an EV since the Legacy is really thin with a height of just 4cm. It's not just a bright, programmable and well built lightbar, it also doesn't severely affect range and performance.
- ION-T being used as grille and intersection lights as well as in the trunk lid. Although the side facing T-ION are installed at a very weird 45° angle which significantly reduces the angle from which they can be seen (comparisons at 0:17 or 0:31 or the close up at 0:46).
- one SA315 siren speaker
- handheld controller with 15 buttons
- Whelen HHS4200 as a programmable light and siren system. This system allows full programming of the controller, sirens and the lightbar. The additional ION-T lights can only be turned on and off.
FIRST ELECTRIC DOCTOR CAR IN CZECHIA (?)
This ID.4 is the first electric doctor car in Czechia and was purpose built for the use as a doctor car.
There has been another ID.4 trial vehicle which has was only used at Zlin Region EMS and Hradec Kralove Region EMS for a couple months each. This one was not a purpose built doctor car which you can clearly see in the link of the tour.
Here's a response video: • [NEW] Zlin EMS electri...
And a tour of that car: • Zlin EMS electric tria...
Vehicle Stats (according to HK EMS):
- 340 hp (250 kW) engine
- 0 - 100 Km/h / 0 - 60 mph in 6.2 seconds
- battery capacity of 77 kWh
- consumption (when driving normally) at 17.8 kWh per 100 Km
Special thanks to Hradec Kralove EMS for the great visit once again! 😊
Hradec Králové, Královéhradecký kraj (Hradec Králové Region), Czechia, May 2024.

[@marco_grt4460]

We have a few of ID3 that are replacing the Subaru Forester fleet, unfortunately I don't know any doctors who drove those cars, at least a year they survived

[@112Elburg]

Amazing video!

[@Rummeltobi]

Thanks!

[@UNIT9898]

Nice quality video !
I would like to get these LEGACY or LIBERTY II light bars in the future, but I can't choose and I still have to save up for it, do you know where I can buy them cheaply?
Thank you.

[@coover65]

The registration plate had me bamboozled at first, then I found out CZ have special plates for electric vehicles. Interesting response vehicle.

[@Rummeltobi]

It's different that's for sure. Personally I'm no fan of these plates. The normal ones at least have a letter which indicates the region where the vehicle is registered to. Do you have any electric emergency vehicles or electric vehicles used by EMS in Australia?

[@coover65]

@@Rummeltobi I believe some police forces use one or two each as non urgent vehicles (community education, crime scene etc.) No EV ambulances as yet. In my state we mainly use Mercedes Sprinters for primary response and Isuzu MU-X SUVs as critical care paramedic response units or supervisor units. I believe Victoria recently bought hybrid Klugers (Toyota Highlander elsewhere) to replace the 3.5L V6 versions.