Electrically powered emergency ambulances in use in Bremerhaven and Rotenburg

If an accident occurs with seriously injured people, it is important that the emergency services arrive on site quickly. Can electrically powered emergency vehicles also do this? In the Rotenburg (Wümme) district and at the fire department in Bremerhaven, people are convinced of this. In addition to the emergency medical vehicles with combustion engines, there is also an electrically powered vehicle available. According to the information, these are the first vehicles of this type in Lower Saxony and Bremen.

In 2025, more electric cars were registered in Lower Saxony and Bremen than ever before: there were more than 70,000 purely electric cars, according to the state association for renewable energies. There are now also some special vehicles with electric motors, including prisoner transporters and tractors.

The emergency ambulance is loaded at the station

The medical director of the Bremerhaven emergency service, Mathias Ellerbeck, advocated the purchase of the electric vehicle, among other things because it is quiet and does not emit any exhaust fumes. “In the city, the car rarely drives 100 kilometers at a time, so we always have a chance to charge,” he says. A range of 250 kilometers is realistic, says technical manager Rainer Suhrhoff. Loading at the station.

“When we had the test vehicle, there were people who absolutely didn’t want to drive it,” reports Ellerbeck. They would have had concerns about range and handling. But these have been refuted. The medical devices on board would have to be charged anyway. “Now there are two cables,” emphasizes the doctor. If things get tight, a combustion engine replacement is available. Before purchasing it in August, the fire department initially used a test vehicle.

Other municipalities are also showing interest

In Rotenburg, the electric car has been in use for the German Red Cross since December 2025, in addition to four emergency medical vehicles with combustion engines. According to the district, it was the first of its kind in Lower Saxony.

So far there have been no loading bottlenecks or special incidents, said a spokeswoman for the district. Other municipalities and districts have already inquired about the experiences.