Cummins All Electric Class 7 Truck Revealed

With Tesla ready to roll out its Tesla Semi in September, Cummins stole a bit of the Silicon Valley company’s thunder by unveiling its own all electric Class 7 electric truck on August 29. Cummins does not make trucks, it makes the power trains that make them go.

The trucking industry needs a large variety of trucks. Some are used in stop and go situations such as making deliveries or picking up trash. Some haul cargo trailers and containers over short distances, often from a port to a nearby distribution center. Some haul freight across the continent. Trucking companies are tightly focused on efficiency. Whichever truck can get the job done at the lowest cost is the one they buy.

The Cummins Class 7 electric truck prototype is dubbed AEOS — one of the horses that pulled the golden chariot of Helios across the heavens every day in Greek mythology. It has a 145 kWh battery and can haul a 22 ton trailer for up to 100 miles. Thanks to its advanced technology, recharging takes only an hour using a 140 kW charger. The Cummins power train won’t go into production until 2019 and the company expects charging times will have dropped to around 20 minutes by then.

The company is targeting truck and bus manufacturers that cater to customers who need short range capability. Approximately one year after the all electric power train enters production, the company will also offer a version with an on-board diesel range extender engine. Working together, both components will have a range of up to 300 miles and slash fuel consumption by 50% compared to trucks with conventional diesel hybrid power.

Cummins CEO Thomas Linebarger says the technology isn’t there yet for a Class 8 electric truck with long range capability. But he feels his nearly 100 year old company is intimately familiar with the needs of its customers and will always offer class leading options to its customers.

“There are more technologies coming into economic relevance than we’ve seen in my career, ever,” Linebarger tells Forbes. “This is what we do. We feel we do better when technologies are shifting.” He is well aware of the competition from companies like Tesla, Proterra, Nikola, and WrightSpeed. “All those competitors we take very seriously. They’re innovative, well-funded and have a technology mindset, much like Cummins.”

“We know that we cannot have one solution for everybody,” he says. That’s why Cummins will continue to develop more efficient diesel engines while exploring fuel cell technology and alternative fuels line LNG and LPG. “We need to make sure we have the right technology for the right application. Even if the electrified power train replaces the internal combustion engine completely, that’s still a 20 to 25 year transition period customers have to manage through. If we have good technology, they’ll want to buy it from us.”

Source: Forbes

Cummins Plug-in Hybrid System For Heavy Trucks Will Boost MPG By 50%

Cummins says it is starting development of a plug-in hybrid electric Class 6 truck that will boost fuel economy by 50%. A Class 6 truck has a gross vehicle weight of between 19,000 and 26,000 pounds. The category includes trucks with a single rear axle and school buses. Examples of a Class 6 truck include the International Durastar, Chevrolet Kodiak/GMC TopKick C6500, and the Ford F-650, according to Wikipedia.

The project will be funded in part by a $4.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.  Cummins’ primary objective is to develop a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle that can ensure fuel efficiency while offering improved performance. Its researchers will optimize the powertrain by selecting the engine best suited for use as an electric commercial vehicle range extender. That engine will be used to manage the charge level of the all-electric drive battery pack. The range extender will be integrated, using advanced vehicle controls, with the electrified powertrain and other applicable technologies.

Partners in the project include PACCAR, Ohio State University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Argonne National Laboratory. PACCAR manufactures medium and heavy duty truck under the Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF brand names.

“The close integration and control of the electrified powertrain with an appropriately selected engine is critically important to developing a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle system,” said Wayne Eckerle, Vice President, Research and Technology, Cummins Inc. “We believe that through the team’s efforts we can soon make these innovations commercially available, which has the potential to translate into substantial savings annually per vehicle, helping our customers and the environment.”

The reduction of fuel consumption will be accomplished using a range of drive cycles designed to meet the needs of commercial fleet operators. In addition to a plug-in hybrid powertrain, the trucks will feature other technologies including intelligent transportation systems and electronic braking. Ultimately, the researchers aim to demonstrate improved fuel consumption and state of the art drivability and performance regardless of environmental conditions. Cummins has not announced when it expects its plug-in hybrid electric trucks to be available.

This is important news because Class 6 trucks are widely used in commercial applications. Think of these new trucks as a really heavy duty version of the Chevy Volt. Raising their average fuel economy — which tends to be dreadful — will pay bigger dividends for the environment than raising the national average for private passenger cars by a few percentage points. The Cummins research should have real benefits, as opposed to the story about electric tractor trailers from Oakridge Battery that turned out to be vaporware.

Source: Electric Cars Report

New Cummins Engine Cuts CO2 Emissions By 80%

Cummins, the diesel engine specialist, has just announced a new engine for medium duty delivery trucks that runs on E85 – a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline – that can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 80%.

The Cummins ETHOS engine began life as the 6.7 liter V-8 commonly found in many medium duty commercial trucks. Working in cooperation with the California Energy Commission, they cut engine displacement down to 4.5 liters, then realized they could go smaller still. In the end, they wound up with a 2.8 liter engine that makes 250 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque – more than enough power for intended use. Those numbers equate to gasoline engines with twice the displacement.

ETHOS was developed alongside the ultra-efficient ATLAS diesel concept Cummins has been working on with the US Department of Energy. Both engines use many common parts and have similar power ratings. The ethanol engine actually uses a compression ratio similar to that of the diesel and employs advanced spark ignition technology to manage the combustion process. It also incorporates a stop/start system, which is important because most delivery trucks for spend much of their time parked at the curb or at a loading dock.

Cummins partners in the ETHOS project are Valvoline, Allison Transmission and Freightliner.

The claimed CO2 reduction is for cellusotic ethanol, which is derived from wood, grasses or the inedible parts of plants. Cellulosic E-85 is less intensive in terms of land use, tilling, fertilizing and harvesting than corn-derived E-85. It also does not divert any corn away from use as a food source for people or animals. Even when using corn based ethanol, the total CO2 reduction is still a very impressive 50%.

The ETHOS engine has racked over a million testing miles in the last 2 years.  A final on-road validation testing phase began in June and will finish at the end of this month. And from there? Who knows…

Source: Gas 2.

Downsized Cummins Diesel Delivering 40% Better Fuel Economy

Back in 2011, Cummins began research into smaller, more efficient diesel engines, and three years later, the government-backed project has made significant progress. Cummins reports that its downsized T2B2 delivers 40% better fuel economy than comparable gasoline V8s, surpassing expectations.

The $30 million project got half its money from the U.S. Department of Energy, giving Cummins and its partners Nissan and Johnson Matthey the funds to make significant advancements in diesel fuel efficiency. The core of this project is the 2.8 liter T2B2 engine, which delivers equivalent power but much better fuel economy compared to conventional gas V8s, which dominate the U.S. truck market. Green Car Congress reports that these improvements include;

• Replacing the aluminium V8 gasoline engine and emission control system with smaller diesel (2.8-liter) and its emission control system (ECS) without a weight penalty. Cummins made extensive use of aluminium as well as space-saving design features for new engine weight control. The aluminum block and head is sandwiched between an iron backbone cam carrier and iron ladder frame base, firmly held with iron-to-iron bolts.
• Lightweight steel pistons provide reduced friction & compression height with increased power density.
• Cummins achieved its weight-neutral goal based on a gasoline engine with emission control system (ECS) weight of 514 lbs (233 kg); the new aluminum 2.8L diesel weighs 362 lbs (164 kg), while the ECS weighs 152 lbs (69 kg).
• Taking learnings from LTD and LDECC programs to utilize PCCI (pre-mixed charge compression ignition) and high charge flow operation.
• Low pressure EGR; Johnson Matthey’s Cold Start Concept (CSC) catalyst for cold start NOx & HC mitigation; an NH3 gas system from Amminex for immediate reductant delivery; and a small engine running higher loads resulting in faster warm-up all contribute to reducing the fuel economy penalty for meeting the more stringent emissions target.

Though the project initially only aimed for a 26 MPG combined rating, internal targets are much higher, and the results are progressing at an impressive clip. Nissan has already committed to a Cummins diesel for the Titan full-size pickup, though they also teased us with a diesel-powered Frontier mid-sized truck. There could be more diesel Nissans on the way as a way to compete in a truck market still dominated by domestic manufacturers.

Source: Gas 2.

Cummins developing 28-mpg 2.8-liter 4-cylinder diesel for Nissan Titan

Cummins-developed diesel engine in Nissan Titan – Click above for image gallery

Is Nissan hunting for a fuel-efficient diesel engine to stuff between the fenders of its Titan pickup truck? Well, according to Automotive News (sub. req.), that seems to be the case.

Thanks to $15 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, Cummins is developing a 2.8-liter four-cylinder diesel engine aimed at boosting fuel efficiency by 40 percent compared to the current crop of V8 mills in use in light-duty trucks.

Cummins is shooting for a combined rating of 28 miles per gallon, meaning that the diesel-equipped Titan would return more than 30 mpg on the highway without sacrificing power, since Cummins is reportedly targeting 220 horsepower and 380 pound-feet of torque. The prototype engine supposedly cranks out a whopping 350 pound-feet of torque at a mere 1,800 rpm. Development of this fuel-efficient, oil-burning mill should be complete by September 2014.



Source: Autoblog Green