Audi e-tron gets turned into electric emergency vehicle

Unsurprisingly, Norway is turning out to be a great market for the Audi e-tron, and now they are even finding new ways to use the electric SUV: as an emergency vehicle for an ambulance service.

After launching the e-tron electric SUV last year, Audi had some difficulties bringing the car to production.

They had some software issues that delayed the rollout in Europe and the US. Audi ended up having to recall some e-tron SUVs over a battery pack issue.

It definitely hit its sales, but the electric SUV is still doing fairly well in some markets, like Norway.

As of August, Audi delivered over 3,200 e-tron SUVs in the market.

One of those customers is the Ambulance Department at Oslo University hospital.

They bought the electric SUV to test it as the country’s first electricity-powered emergency car:

The Ambulance Department at Oslo University hospital is now testing out the country’s first electricity-powered emergency car. The model is an Audi e-TRON, which is converted to an emergency car. The reconstruction has been a relatively comprehensive process that was recently completed.

Here’s a video of the electric vehicle after being converted:

To be clear, this is not an “ambulance” in the most common meaning. The Oslo University hospital explains the difference:

This is not a ‘regular’ ambulance transporting patients, but an emergency vehicle designed to arrive quickly to the accident site and start treatment before the ambulance arrives, normally set up with a medic.

We have actually seen other similar services use electric vehicles in other countries.

An ambulance service in the Netherlands has unveiled a Tesla Model X used as an all-electric “rapid responder,” and Flack, an important ambulance provider, also unveiled a modified Tesla Model X for similar purposes.

The Oslo University hospital says that it will use the Audi e-tron as a test program for electric vehicles alongside its other regular gas-powered emergency cars operating today.

They say that the first vehicle is now in service in the Asker and Bærum regions in greater Oslo.

While I am sure no one wants to end up having to use one of these, if it does happen, it’s nice to know that it’s a zero-emissions vehicle, at least.