Transport Enterprise Leasing, a commercial truck and trailer equipment lease and remarketing provider, signed a letter of intent with Cummins, a global power solutions provider, to purchase Cummins’ 15-liter hydrogen internal combustion engines when available. Transport Enterprise Leasing will integrate the Cummins’ X15H hydrogen engines into its fleet of heavy-duty trucks.

“Our customers are at the heart of our company. Providing them with the best-value trucks equipped with lower emissions power options will ensure that we are prioritizing their continued success and also reducing our environmental footprint,” Doug Carmichael, CEO of Transportation Enterprise Leasing, said. “Cummins’ investment in multiple technologies minimizing emissions allows us to achieve both.”

“We are pleased to see the leadership of customers like TEL, who are exploring solutions like our fuel agnostic platform to help their own customers. The future will include many solutions to help customers decarbonize that meet their varied needs and duty cycles, and we believe hydrogen internal combustion engines will play an important role,” Amy Boerger, vice president and general manager in North America for the engine business at Cummins, said.

Since announcing the fuel agnostic platform, which includes the hydrogen option in both the 15-liter and 6.7-liter displacements, Cummins has responded to customer interest globally about the potential of the platform, and hydrogen in particular.

“We believe this technology is not only essential for the future of our planet but also for our customers to have access to options that work for them,” Jim Nebergall, general manager of the hydrogen engine business at Cummins, said. “Internal combustion engines that run on hydrogen will provide customers a financially feasible and familiar power option.”

Hydrogen engines offer OEMs and end-users the benefit of adaptability by continuing to use familiar mechanical drivelines with vehicle and equipment integration. This mirrors current powertrains while continuing to provide the power and capability for meeting application needs. Significant reuse of parts and components from Cummins’ existing platforms can drive scale advantages on cost and is also projected to deliver reliability and durability equal to diesel.

Hydrogen engines can use zero-carbon green hydrogen fuel, produced by Cummins-manufactured electrolyzers. The projected investment in renewable hydrogen production globally will provide a growing opportunity for the deployment of hydrogen-powered fleets utilizing either Cummins fuel cell or engine power.