OMAHA, Neb. — Werner Enterprises and Cummins Inc. announced Sept. 7 that Werner signed a letter of intent to purchase 500 Cummins’ 15-liter hydrogen internal combustion engines upon availability.
“At Werner, we’re committed to a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 because we recognize the important role our sustainability efforts play,” said Derek Leathers, chairman, president and CEO of Werner. “Our customers are showing increased interest in more sustainable choices in the marketplace, and we see significant potential in utilizing Cummins’ fuel agnostic platform to continue the momentum toward reducing our carbon footprint.”
The two companies announced earlier this year that Werner Enterprises plans to validate and integrate Cummins’ 15-liter natural gas and Cummins’ X15H hydrogen engines, both part of Cummins’ fuel agnostic platform, into its fleet.
“We are pleased to see the leadership of customers like Werner Enterprises, who are exploring solutions like our fuel agnostic platform to help their own customers,” said Brett Merritt, vice president of on-highway engine business at Cummins Inc. “The future will include many solutions to help customers decarbonize, and we believe hydrogen internal combustion engines will play an important role.”
Since announcing its fuel agnostic platform, which includes the hydrogen option in both 15-liter and 6.7-liter displacements, Cummins has responded to customer interest globally about the potential of the platform, and hydrogen in particular.
“Our fleet customers have shown tremendous enthusiasm for hydrogen internal combustion engines, which we believe can be a breakthrough technology essential to reaching Destination Zero,” said Jim Nebergall, general manager of Cummins’ hydrogen engine business. “With enough interest, we believe we can manufacture this technology at scale yet this decade, providing customers with an option that is a low initial cost, extended vehicle range, powertrain installation commonality, and end user familiarity.”
Destination Zero is Cummins’ strategy to go farther faster to reduce the greenhouse gas and air-quality impacts of its products and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
Hydrogen engines offer OEMs and end-users the benefit of adaptability by continuing to use familiar mechanical drivelines with vehicle and equipment integration. This mirrors current powertrains while continuing to provide the power and capability for meeting application needs. Significant reuse of parts and components from Cummins’ existing platforms drives scale advantages on cost and is also projected to deliver reliability and durability equal to diesel.
Cummins’ hydrogen engines can use zero-carbon green hydrogen fuel, produced by Cummins-manufactured electrolyzers. The projected investment in renewable hydrogen production globally will provide a growing opportunity for the deployment of hydrogen-powered fleets utilizing either Cummins fuel cell or engine power.
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