Cummins on Tuesday, March 20, announced that its lineup of diesel engines will meet 2014 fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas regulations beginning in January 2013. The new engines will deliver up to a 2 percent fuel economy improvement over comparable engines being produced today and will use the same “critical engine subsystems” such as variable-geometry turbochargers, high-pressure fuel systems and exhaust gas aftertreatment.
Cummins’ theme for its 2013 and 2014 engine program is “Better where it counts,” a sentiment reflected by Rich Freeland, vice president and president of the company’s engine business. “Customers can count on Cummins,” Freeland said. “We met the EPA 2010 standard on time, and our engines have earned their industry-leading reputation for great reliability and fuel economy. Our product development teams are now delivering even better products where it counts — to our customers — and these new 2014-compliant engines are a sign of that.”
Freeland said that Cummins will not change its diesel engine lineup in any significant way this coming January: The company’s full slate of diesel engines – from the medium-duty ISB6.7 to its flagship ISX15 – will be available, and all will be ready to meet the 2014 fuel economy and greenhouse gas regulations a full year ahead of schedule.
The only major pending change to the Columbus, Ind.-based company’s power offering will be a new natural-gas version of the ISX15. The new engine is currently in development as a spark-ignited alternative for fleets and operators concerned with rising diesel fuel prices. Cummins already is producing on-highway, spark-ignited natural gas engines with Cummins Westport – its joint venture with Westport Innovations in Vancouver, B.C.
The new 15 liter development project is significant, however, in that it is being developed solely by Cummins. Ed Pence, vice president and general manager of Cummins heavy-duty engine business, says that the new 15-liter will be based on the existing ISX15 platform and will be capable of burning compressed natural gas, liquified natural gas or biomethane fuel. Cummins expects to begin field-testing the new engine early next year and begin production in early 2015.
Additionally, Cummins announced the introduction of its new Fleetguard FF5782 fuel filter. According to Joseph Saoud, vice president of Cummins Filtration, the new filter, which uses nanotechnology-based filtration media, is “revolutionary” and designed to trap 98.7 percent of all particles as small as 4 microns. The result, he says, is a filter that now offers Cummins customers protection that is 13 times better than its predecessor, allowing engines and engine components to last longer in the field and delivering up to a 25 percent reduction in total cost of ownership.
