Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2024 - 25

EXECUTIVE VIEWPOINTS
Bippus says that
the launch of the
Cummins X15N 15-L
engine will triple the
addressable market for
heavy-duty natural-gas
trucks over the next few years.
Hexagon Agility. " This is a game-changer for our niche
industry, enabling a powerhouse solution for Class 8
fleets traveling locally and cross country. "
Hexagon confirmed via a press release that the
company is taking orders for CNG fuel system installations
on pilot trucks powered by Cummins' new X15N
engine. According to the release, these orders came
from " major fleets and cover two leading original
equipment manufacturers. " In February of this year,
Kenworth became the first to open its order books for
trucks powered by the Cummins X15N engine.
The X15N is an inline-six-cylinder configuration with
ratings of 400 to 500 hp (298 to 373 kW) and 1,450 to
1,850 lb-ft (1,966 to 2,508 Nm) of torque with a max engine
speed of 1,900 rpm. Cummins states that the X15N
meets EPA and CARB regulations in 2024 and 2027
thanks in part to a passive and maintenance-free threeway
catalyst aftertreatment system. Cummins also claims
that the X15N demonstrates up to a 10% improvement in
fuel economy compared to the current ISX12N.
Bippus detailed the impact that the introduction of
the Cummins X15N will have on the CNG truck market.
" The big thing with the 15-liter is that today's natural
gas engine stops at 400 horsepower, " he said. " Most
of your heavy-duty fleet usually need 430-plus [horsepower].
Telling the heavy-duty sector they need to
downgrade on horsepower isn't going to go over well.
The 15-liter solves for all of this. "
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
Don Ruddy, Hexagon's VP of Operations, Salisbury, NC, shows the expansion of the
company's operations in anticipation of an uptick for CNG fuel-system demand.
Bippus continued: " When you have 450 to 500 horsepower you
pick up efficiency because you're not pushing that engine nearly as
hard, and the heavier applications can run in the sweet spot for
torque. The 15-liter really expands the natural gas market. The 12-liter
does a good job in regional-haul applications that don't need the
range or the weight capacity of the larger trucks, but the 15-liter will
enable us to cover the entirety of the market. "
The big picture
CNG systems have been a mainstay of fleets globally for decades,
but the U.S. currently has the largest market share for these systems.
" North America is still our biggest market, " said Hans Peter Havdal,
group COO and CEO for Hexagon Agility. " Last year, our systems removed
over 1.5 million metric tons of CO2
emissions that would have
come from diesel engines. This is a trend that we need to help continue
to grow in order to meet the challenge of decarbonization. "
" Many OEMs and governments around the world have aggressive
targets for emissions reductions by 2030, " Bippus said, " which
means we look at technology like natural gas. If you really want to hit
those targets we have to deploy at scale. Small science projects of
five to ten deployments don't work - we need hundreds and thousands
of vehicles going to the market every year. "
June 2024 25
FROM LEFT: CUMMINS; SAE/MATT WOLFE
Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2024

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