Westport and Cummins launch natural gas project for heavy-duty trucks

VANCOUVER (Nov. 17, 1999) — Westport Innovations Inc., a Vancouver-based research firm, announced a $10 million, two-year natural gas truck project with diesel engine maker Cummins Engine Co. The project calls for Westport to adapt three heavy-duty diesel trucks to liquefied natural gas from oil-based diesel fuel. Westport said it would keep the first prototype in Vancouver for demonstration purposes and deliver the other two to fleet operators for commercial hauling before the end of the year 2000.

Cummins, the world’s largest producer of diesel engines over 200 horsepower, will supply its newest engine for heavy-duty trucks, the ISX. The ISX, part of a $1.5 billion US new product launch completed by Cummins earlier this year, was designed with capabilities to meet future emissions requirements. Cummins will undertake a market study and preliminary business plan for diesel truck engines fuelled with natural gas.

Westport will be responsible for modifying Cummins’ ISX 400 engine to work with Westport’s patented High Pressure Direct Injection technology for natural gas. Westport shall also install the modified engine, along with a liquefied natural gas fuel tank and fuel compressor, in each of the three trucks.

“This is our second program with Cummins and a significant development in our strategy of developing an environmentally cleaner, cost-effective alternative to diesel fuel for trucks,” said David Demers, Westport’s President. “There were over 238,000 heavy-duty truck engines sold in North America in 1998.

Cummins had a 32 percent share of that market. This is a great opportunity for us and we will be working hard to prove the capabilities of the technology for this sector.”

A two-year Memorandum of Understanding between Westport and Cummins governs the project. If the trucks perform as expected, the agreement calls for Cummins and Westport to develop a business plan to commercialize Westport’s technology.

Westport expects, based on its laboratory tests, that natural gas fuelled diesel trucks using the High Pressure Direct Injection technology will produce significantly lower emissions than regular diesel trucks while retaining diesel’s power, performance and fuel economy characteristics.