Emergency service vehicle specialist VCS has revealed a range of new “ground-breaking” concepts based on a new Ultra Low Floor Architecture (ULFA) platform using the MAN TGE.
The platform has been developed by sister company, Promech Technologies, to offer a combination of strength, versatility and accessibility said to be new to the emergency services sector.
Its low floor gives VCS the ability to develop a wider range of configurations of emergency service vehicles, as it can increase interior space of the box body without compromising the overall height of the vehicle and delivering a lower centre of gravity overall.
Combined with the load-lugging ability of the MAN TGE, this means that VCS vehicles using this architecture will be able to carry exceptionally heavy loads.
The MAN TGE-based ULFA platform covers gross vehicle weight between 3.5 and 5.0 tonnes and including front-line ambulances and police support units, as well as fire, search, and rescue vehicles.
It’s already been used to underpin the recently announced low-floor bariatric ambulance for St John’s Ambulance – said to be Europe’s first 5.0-tonne front-wheel drive, single rear wheel modular ambulance.
Mark Kerrigan, managing director of VCS, said: “Our new ULFA low floor platform opens up a world of possibilities to both ambulance and police services, offering a solution that offers greater versatility while retaining our core values of lightweight and quality engineering. The ULFA has a great deal of potential, and we look forward to unlocking this with several new low floor vehicles in the near future.”
Further details about new vehicles using the ULFA platform will be announced later this year.
