Cummins Responds to Nikola’s Electric Truck With Its Vision of the Future
Cummins Inc., the industry’s only independent engine manufacturer, outlined how the company envisions using multiple alternative propulsion systems to power Class 8 trucks within the next 10 years in a statement provided to Transport Topics.
Cummins responded Dec. 6 to a request for comment after the unveiling of an electric Class 8 truck made by Salt Lake City-based Nikola Motor Co., which announced its intention to revolutionize the trucking industry with its technology. Its truck is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and a 320 kWh battery pack consisting of more than 32,000 individual lithium-ion cells welded together.
Truck makers did not respond to the same request.
Cummins will “continue to introduce innovative power solutions to drive truck technology ahead, as we have been doing since the 1930s,” according to the statement.
Over the coming five to 10 years, Cummins will introduce next-generation power systems that include “super high-efficiency diesel powertrains to high-output natural gas engines with near-zero emissions and electromobility solutions focused on a diesel-generator plug-in hybrid driveline,” according to the engine maker.
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Also, a full battery-electric propulsion system may become viable for Class 8 trucks, Columbus, Indiana-based Cummins said. That’s if battery charge capacity and operating life continues to evolve and a charging infrastructure is available.
In 2010, Cummins demonstrated a tubular solid oxide fuel cell in a hybrid-configured auxiliary power unit to power a Class 8 truck ‘hotel’ load.'
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“While this approach may have been premature at the time, the fuel cell has remained a part of our technology evaluation program, both for potential vehicle propulsion power and for stationary power generation,” it said.
“Essentially, if the fuel cell becomes a viable commercial proposition for Class 8 applications, we have the ability to transition our emerging vehicle electric capability over to a hydrogen power source," Cummins said in the statement. "There are, however, many barriers to be overcome before we reach that option, not least in terms of a fueling infrastructure.
"However, Nikola Motor Co. is to be commended for trying to push the boundaries of the possible, and we wish them well with their endeavors.”
Multiple alternative propulsion systems create “an exciting picture of how the Class 8 market is likely to evolve,” Cummins said.
