Cummins-led consortium wins backing for new technologies for hybrid and fuel cell powertrains
Cummins has received backing from the Government- and industry-funded project, Trident, to help accelerate British development of air handling technologies by three years. The funding allows Cummins and its partners to allocate additional engineers and resources to develop new air handling technologies for hybrid and fuel cell powertrains.
Aligned with UK government ambitions, the collaborative project led by Cummins, seeks to reduce CO2 emissions and improve air quality by building a UK supply chain for the next generation of heavy-duty turbochargers.
Cummins, a leading supplier of turbocharger technology for more than 60 years, is well-positioned to lead the consortium with partners University of Bath, Holtex and Aeristech.
Brett Fathauer, executive director – research & engineering for Cummins Turbo Technologies, says: “The funding that Cummins and our partners received from the Advanced Propulsion Centre is critical to helping us deliver CO2 and fuel consumption improvements across a variety of power solutions.”
“Additionally, we expect to accelerate our development of air handling technologies for hybrid and fuel cell powertrains by three years, as we continue our focus on developing and offering technologies that are better for our customers, the environment and our communities.”
Duncan Kerr, CEO, Aeristech, adds: “Working with Cummins in a partnership of this calibre is an outstanding opportunity to use our electric motor technologies in next-generation powertrains for hydrogen-fuel cell powered vehicles. Our technologies deliver the high performance and efficiency needed to increase the power output of the fuel cell by forcing air into the fuel cell engine using an electrically driven turbocharger. These hydrogen fuel cell systems are zero emission and we’re delighted to be working with Cummins to jointly develop new green technology solutions.”
Cummins and the consortium partners aim to create a ‘game-changing’ energy recovery platform which delivers CO2 and fuel consumption improvements across a variety of sustainable power solutions, recognising that electric alone may not be suitable for some applications.