Photo: Versatile
Cummins bet big on the hydrogen with its 15-liter hydrogen engines. The industry leader announced a partnership with agriculture giant Versatile to install its hydrogen engines on Versatile tractors.
Cummins is one of the most prominent engine manufacturing players and one at the forefront of the hydrogen revolution. Cummins’s hydrogen engines are already helping decarbonize heavy machinery. They are set to land in another vital field through the partnership with Versatile. Under the new agreement, Versatile tractors will use the hydrogen version of the 15-liter Cummins engine to power its high-end tractors.
The Versatile partnership is a natural step considering that the tractor brand is a long-time partner. Versatile used Cummins diesel engines exclusively for its four-wheel drive tractors for the past 55 years. Both companies are heavily invested in agriculture and willing to explore new powertrain technologies. Although diesel engines are set to remain the power of choice for the foreseeable future in agriculture, the two companies consider that low and zero-carbon solutions are needed for the long term.
Cummins has already demonstrated its expertise in developing spark-ignited hydrogen engines. The diesel and hydrogen engines share many common components, making the hydrogen power solutions easier to implement in existing applications. As battery-electric powertrains are not yet suitable for heavy-duty applications, hydrogen remains the best way to reduce carbon emissions without sacrificing productivity.
Besides being cleaner, Cummins’s hydrogen engine’s main advantage is that it shares many of its components with the diesel variants, thus reducing maintenance costs and leveraging economy of scale. The hydrogen combustion engines don’t need special care and can be serviced by existing technicians.
Cummins works not only on hydrogen combustion engines but on engines able to burn any fuel with minimal modifications. It calls that “fuel-agnostic engine,” although it’s not entirely agnostic. Its new engine platform can be easily adapted to burn any fuel. Still, a particular engine needs a specific set of components and an engine management system tailored to use a certain fuel type.
The Versatile partnership is a natural step considering that the tractor brand is a long-time partner. Versatile used Cummins diesel engines exclusively for its four-wheel drive tractors for the past 55 years. Both companies are heavily invested in agriculture and willing to explore new powertrain technologies. Although diesel engines are set to remain the power of choice for the foreseeable future in agriculture, the two companies consider that low and zero-carbon solutions are needed for the long term.
Cummins has already demonstrated its expertise in developing spark-ignited hydrogen engines. The diesel and hydrogen engines share many common components, making the hydrogen power solutions easier to implement in existing applications. As battery-electric powertrains are not yet suitable for heavy-duty applications, hydrogen remains the best way to reduce carbon emissions without sacrificing productivity.
Besides being cleaner, Cummins’s hydrogen engine’s main advantage is that it shares many of its components with the diesel variants, thus reducing maintenance costs and leveraging economy of scale. The hydrogen combustion engines don’t need special care and can be serviced by existing technicians.
Cummins works not only on hydrogen combustion engines but on engines able to burn any fuel with minimal modifications. It calls that “fuel-agnostic engine,” although it’s not entirely agnostic. Its new engine platform can be easily adapted to burn any fuel. Still, a particular engine needs a specific set of components and an engine management system tailored to use a certain fuel type.
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