Funding announced for Cummins-led turbocharger consortium

Cummins, which is leading a consortium focused on decarbonising heavy-duty powertrains, has announced that the UK Government and industry funded project, TRIDENT, will 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.

The Cummins’ led project is seeking to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and improve air quality by building a U.K. supply chain for the next generation of heavy-duty turbochargers, the company said.

Brett Fathauer, executive director – Research & Engineering for Cummins Turbo Technologies.

Cummins is partnered with University of Bath, Holtex Ltd and Aeristech. Brett Fathauer, executive director – Research & Engineering for Cummins Turbo Technologies said, “The funding that Cummins and our partners received from the Advanced Propulsion Centre is critical to helping us deliver carbon dioxide 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.”

The TRIDENT project supports the U.K.’s long-term capabilities to reduce carbon dioxide and improve air quality.

While immediate purchases of on-highway zero-emission vehicles remain focused on cars and buses, investment in long-term research and development is critical to meeting the demands of heavy-duty applications and aligning with zero-emission targets, said Cummins

Duncan Kerr, CEO of Aeristech, said: “Working with Cummins in a partnership of this caliber 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.”

Announced as a recipient of funding from the Advanced Propulsion Centre in June last year, as part of the latest round of Government and industry funding for low-carbon emissions research, the announcement comes as the U.K. starts counting down towards the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), held in Glasgow, Scotland later this year with more than 200 world leaders due to discuss climate action.