Diesel Powerhouse Cummins Announces $1.5 Billion Investment in Electric, Fuel Cell Tech
By Edward A. Sanchez — April 4, 2023
Among American diesel enthusiasts, and even globally to a certain extent, there are few names more synonymous with diesel power than Cummins. The company’s engines power thousands of Class 8 trucks, and the inclusion of Cummins diesel powertrains in Dodge Ram trucks in the late 1980s was instrumental in changing Dodge’s public perception as an also-ran truck brand to the first choice for many buyers shopping for a reliable workhorse. So when the company that is to diesel engines what “Kleenex” is to facial tissue announces a $1.5 billion investment into clean energy, you know the winds of change are blowing.
Although Cummins announced its “Accelera” clean tech initiative in March, the company is in the headlines once again because of President Biden’s visit to the company’s facility in Fridley, Minn., where the company will produce electrolyzer modules, a key component in fuel cell powertrains.
In addition to the Minnesota facility, the company is investing $452 million into its Jamestown Engine Plant in upstate New York into its fuel-agnostic internal combustion program featuring the company’s 15-liter engine for Class 8 trucks, industrial and construction equipment, with the modular design supporting diesel, natural gas, and hydrogen fuels.
When Cummins enters the hydrogen game with its massive Class 8 engines, you know the times are a-changin.
Another interesting tidbit mentioned in the release for the 15-liter engine is that the company has plans to implement a similar strategy with its 9- and 6.7-liter engines. The latter is particularly significant, since it is the basis for the engine in the Ram HD models.
Whether the multi-fuel approach will only be applied to industrial and commercial applications rather than Ram’s trucks is unknown, but it could potentially give HD truck buyers an interesting option if Stellantis decides to offer these variations.
Hydrogen combustion has been criticized by many as being an inefficient application of hydrogen fuel, and their criticisms are valid from a well-to-wheels standpoint. We have discussed many times on The Watt Car Podcast that the advent of the Megawatt Charging System even makes fuel cell applications in Class 8 trucks less compelling than they once were.
Regardless, Cummins’s “all-of-the-above” approach is probably wise in the politically uncertain times we’re living in, both domestically and internationally. The current administration’s pro-green-energy agenda could be swiftly undone by an executive order or change in leadership in federal departments under a new administration. And although dominant in the North American market, Cummins also has a significant global presence, and many markets are on much slower paths toward electrification and fuel cells, so offering cleaner ICE alternatives is probably a wise strategy for the next 10 to 15 years.
Cummins may be the undisputed leader in the industrial and heavy-duty diesel market, but as regulatory pressure increases globally to transition to a low- or zero-carbon economy and transportation infrastructure, it’s in the company’s interest to be a step ahead rather than behind.
(Images courtesy Cummins)
