Designed to work in the most congested car parking or storage areas such on board ferries, covered parking or ‘congestion hazard’ areas – such as hospital parking – the job of First Mover is to retrieve or remove vehicles.
It’s a powerful battery-powered transporter with low bed height – allowing access under the sportiest aerodynamic road-hugging body shell – capable of lifting up to 3500kg (by the wheel not the chassis) and relocate it – even if that means travelling uphill (max 18°).
From a distance of up to 100m one operator working alone can safely move vehicles without assistance from a second operative working as a spotter – in areas which are not accessible to cumbersome ‘tow’ trucks.
A lead/acid battery powered version of First Mover is proving to offer the most exciting advantages as it has been designed for emergency and hazardous environments. Even vehicles actually on fire can be safely removed, minimising adjacent damage and averting full-blown disaster.
The remote control range of 100m allows safe operation by an emergency worker, well clear of the danger zone.
First Mover has a tracked drive unit which can articulate through 360 degrees whilst still attached to the lifting bed -so it’s not even necessary for the unit to approach from directly in front or behind the target vehicle.
Keep your distance
Galvanic isolation between the lift bed and the control unit avoids the danger of stray voltage from an electric vehicle, for example, shorting out the operating unit.
A well publicised fire which occurred recently in a multi storey car park at Luton Airport, UK, – which was believed to have started in a diesel engined vehicle – ended in the complete destruction of the four-year old car park; damaged up to 1400 cars; caused the cancellation of 150 flights and incurred disruption for an estimated 30,000 passengers – that kind of incident makes it easy to realise how a single-vehicle fire in a difficult location can get completely out of control. No one was hurt in the blaze, but the fire caused millions of pounds of damage to infrastructure and private property, and will have caused years of inconvenience before it is remedied.
Emergency workers during testing
First Mover is the brain child of Brian Sørensen. Having dreamed up the idea he spent days searching the internet for similar vehicles already in production – but there was nothing. He spent years in build and development plundering his savings …so that the units we see today are in fact the result of twenty years of industry experience and product trials.
The remote control feature is key to operative safety for the ‘Emergency’ model. Remote control is vital, for example, when attending Road Traffic Accidents as it allows the operator to work well away from the hazard, or remove vehicles from live-lane incidents whilst standing behind a highway safety barrier. ‘Movers’ are available with either 20m or 100m range.
The First Mover control unit has a maximum speed of 3kmh and can effortlessly lift more than two tons 700mm above the road surface. Units are equipped with either Lead/Acid or Lithium batteries – depending on their intended rôle.
- 1 x Blue Smart IP67 charger 24/5. This is the waterproof version of Victron’s ultra-reliable seven-step battery charger. It has bluetooth on board allowing charge monitoring and setting from a phone.
- 1 x BMV 712 Smart Battery monitor. In addition to displaying live power data the BMV 712 records extensive system data allowing historic analysis and performance over time in statistic and graph form. Data can be interrogated from a phone.
The battery propulsion of the Mover is from 2x 200Ah Gel 24V batteries. The flatbed has 2x 95Ah 24V batteries. Together they offer a continuous operation time of 4 hours.
