All new diesel ambulances with engines built after Dec. 31, 2009, are required to have engines that will burn off nitrogen oxide. To accomplish this, all new diesel ambulances (with the exception of International brand chassis) will have a six- to eight-gallon DEF (urea solution) tank on them, which will inject the urea into the exhaust system to burn off the nitrogen oxide.
However, Ford does not currently have a compliant diesel engine for the Econoline van and cutaway chassis that have been extremely popular for ambulance applications. Ford is now be providing those chassis with a V-10 gasoline engine. (for the cutaway chassis only)
The DEF additive will require crews to be conscious of their DEF additive tank level. Here's a sample description of how one DEF system will work:
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The driver will an initial warning indicator on their instrument panel when the DEF tank gets down to 1.5 gallons;
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The driver will get a second warning (visual and audible) and a digital indication of the number of remaining "engine starts" they have (counting down from 20) when their tank hits 0.8 gallons;
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If the operator ignores both warnings and continues to drive the unit until it runs out of the DEF (urea) additive, they'll experience a "final engine start" and not be able to start their ambulance the next time they attempt to do so. Because this can result in a delayed or failed response, this could result in a serious patient care delay/failure and present a liability to an ambulance agency.
Price estimates will be a $2,500 to $6,000 increase in the cost of a vehicle chassis to adjust for the addition of these new 2010 emission requirements, as well as the tanks and heaters to heat up the urea (DEF) in cold environments.
