Cummins Westport Celebrates 10 Years

by Jeff Campbell, Director of Product Marketing, Canada Sales, Cummins Westport Inc.

Ten years ago on March 7, 2001 Cummins Inc. and Westport Innovations officially joined forces to create Cummins Westport Inc. (CWI). This 50/50 joint venture was the culmination of three years of collaboration between the two companies focused on how best to grow the medium- and heavy-duty natural gas vehicle market.

Since this humble start in 2001, CWI has emerged as the leading natural gas engine supplier to bus and truck builders worldwide, and has also been recognized with many awards along the way. Since 2001, CWI has sold over 21,600 natural gas and LPG engines worldwide and generated cumulative revenues of $545 million.

The Cummins Westport ISL G
Natural Gas Engine

“CWI’s products have helped to enable a market for natural gas vehicles – our engines are powering vehicles on every continent except Antarctica,” said Roe East, President of Cummins Westport. “Since 2001, CWI has launched a range of new engines, including the "Pluses" (B Gas Plus, C Gas Plus, and L Gas Plus), the B Gas International, ISB5.9 G, and the ISL G. In 2007, the ISL G was the first heavy-duty production engine certified to the stringent 2010 EPA emission levels, and soon we will build and sell the 10,000th ISL G engine!”

For these successes, we thank the foresight of our CWI founders, the direction from our Board of Directors, and the dedication and perseverance of CWI’s 52 staff members in: Columbus, IN; Denver, CO; Hubbard, OH; Irvine, CA; Miami, FL, Vancouver, BC; Beijing, China; and Darlington, England as well as field support from the Cummins’ distribution channel worldwide.

Thanks also go to everyone at Cummins who has had a role in CWI's successes in the first ten years. We look forward to CWI's continued success in the next ten!

Have your clean truck and power it too!

Proven Performance in Heavy-Duty Natural Gas Trucks

LNG trucks equipped with early-generation Westport HD Systems have been in service in North American fleets since 2000. Extensive in-service experience allowed Westport to bring advanced systems to the commercial market with confidence, and today there are fleets operating LNG trucks powered by Westport HD in Canada, the United States, and Australia.

We caught up with a few people on the ground driving, purchasing, or selling heavy-duty trucks, and we spoke to them about their experiences with LNG trucks.

With over 32 years in the transportation industry, Vic LaRosa knows trucks. Vic is President of California’s Total Transportation Systems Inc. (TTSI). He also knows the impact the trucking industry has made on the environment. When Vic saw an opportunity to add trucks to his fleet that run on cheaper, cleaner burning, domestically available natural gas, without compromising performance or fuel economy, he seized it with the Westport HD GX engine and LNG fuel system.

“We pretty much determined that the future was going to really dictate a major movement to alternative fuels,” says Vic. “The only thing being developed in the marketplace at the time that was truly alternative and would get the job done was LNG.”

“There was a tremendous fear about natural gas. It was an unknown. There were a lot of people that were not too confident [in] natural gas. In the last year, a lot of that angst has disappeared. The drivers are really starting to embrace it. They’re finding that the technology does work.”

On the driving experience, Vic finds the trucks capable and adaptable: “We haul anything from… 25-30 thousand pound loads all the way to maximum loads of 44-45 thousand pounds, which would be scrap-metal. The driving experience has been very, very good. It’s a quiet ride; it’s a comfortable ride; it gets the job done in terms of horsepower. We’re very pleased with the results.”

Listen to Vic explain why he chose LNG trucks powered by Westport HD.

“I was opposed to it at first. I’m an old-school trucker. I thought I was going to lose a lot of power, but the power is pretty much the same. Now I’m a big believer. I like it a lot. No smell. No fumes. It’s the perfect truck.”
— Allen Williams Jr., Independent Contractor, TTSI

“The difference between an LNG truck and a regular diesel tractor is really none. It has the same amount of horsepower, it pulls the same commodities, the same weight; we’re able to travel the same distance on a full tank of fuel. It just provide(s) a cleaner environment.”
— Fernando Bogarin, General Manager, TTSI

“Since LNG is pretty new out there I wasn’t too sure how it was going to be. One day in here changed my mind. One day is all it took, because I was just impressed with it. It’s a lot cheaper to run LNG compared to your diesel, so it’s going to save people money. It’s just as simple as fuelling up a diesel truck; it’s really quick. You don’t have to worry about over filling it and getting diesel all over you. It’s a lot cleaner in that sense. It’s great, it really is.
— Lee Leasure, Driver, Trimac Transportation

Sit in the cab with Lee while he speaks about his LNG truck experience.

Truck sales involve knowing the application and duty cycle your customer expects to run and what will work for them. Bob Fry, General Manager and Inland Kenworth in California says, “I have guys running these every day that feel they have a better operation than diesel. Some of these trucks in the Port may only be driving 50 miles a day, but they’re pulling tremendous weight: over 100,000 lbs. Some guys will run as many as 500 miles a day. So they’re doing both kinds of operations.”

In North America, the Westport HD GX engine and LNG fuel system is based on the Cummins ISX platform and is currently available in truck models from Kenworth and Peterbilt. The GX engine and LNG fuel system is also offered by Kenworth Australia.

Westport HD has development programs in place with Weichai in China—through joint venture Weichai Westport Inc.—and with Volvo Powertrain of Sweden. Each program will engineer the Westport HD technology to the respective engine brand for future product commercialization.

For more testimonial videos, visit Westport's YouTube channel.

Westport HD is the business unit of Westport Innovations Inc. that targets the heavy-duty vehicle market.

Westport Enters Light-Duty Automotive Market—an interview with Ian Scott, President, Juniper Engines Inc.

by Heather Merry

On July 2, Westport Innovations announced it has acquired Italian company OMVL SpA, the other parent company of its joint venture Juniper Engines Inc. Westport has purchased 100% of the interest in OMVL and as a result, Juniper is now wholly owned by Westport.

Fuel for Thought spoke to Ian Scott, President of Juniper Engines, who will now run the combined companies, to get his take on the acquisition and the future for the new Juniper.

Fuel for Thought:
Ian, this is a great step for Juniper and injects an immediate revenue stream into Juniper (and therefore Westport). What is the significance of the acquisition?

Ian Scott:
Thank you. The purchase includes OMVL’s 51% equity in the Juniper joint venture and therefore Westport now owns 100% of both Juniper and OMVL. Going forward OMVL will be operated within Juniper, and this deal represents a large step for Juniper towards leadership in the light-duty alternative fuel engine market. OMVL is the third largest global compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) automotive fuel system and component supplier. So, Juniper will integrate a global business that includes products and technologies, assembly operations and facilities, and most importantly people, who will allow our combined company to become a leading player in our space.

FFT: Why acquire OMVL?

IS: The acquisition provides immediate access to the automotive market, new revenues for Juniper and Westport, and integration of the fuel system supply for Juniper’s industrial products. The story began in October 2007, when Westport and OMVL formed the Juniper joint venture. Both companies have worked together effectively since inception, and we largely view this acquisition as strengthening our existing partnership. OMVL brings proven spark-ignited multipoint injection fuel systems (the same systems Juniper uses on our forklift product), high volume manufacturing excellence, and strong engineering capabilities. In 2009, OMVL sold more than 300,000 LPG and CNG units, including complete fuel system kits or individual components such as reducers, for revenue of €19 million (US$23.4M). Juniper products will provide our parent company Westport with a strong balance to the differentiated Westport HD and Cummins Westport(CWI) product line-up.

FFT: What will Westport pay for the acquisition?

IS: Westport acquired OMVL for approximately US$23 million in total—about the same as OMVL’s 2009 revenues.

FFT: So Juniper is now in the light-duty automotive (passenger car) market?

IS: Yes, based on existing OMVL relationships.

FFT: What is OMVL’s current business exactly?

IS: OMVL designs, manufactures, and markets complete fuelling systems for new OEM light-duty vehicles and for the aftermarket conversion of engines from gasoline (petrol) to CNG and LPG. They are a leading supplier of alternative fuel kits and components in global markets including Europe, China, and Australia. They also have strong OEM partnerships in place including PSA Peugeot-Citroen (France) and Magna Gaz (Russia).

FFT: So, what’s the business strategy for Juniper?

IS: Juniper is the Westport business unit addressing the light-duty market. Our goal has been clear from the outset; to generate sustainable profits by becoming the OEM partner of choice for alternative fuel light-duty engine solutions. Juniper is emulating the Westport HD and CWI models by achieving success through superior products and customer support, in a focussed segment of the market; in this case light-duty. Juniper’s strategy was to enter and aggressively grow in the mobile industrial segment, migrate that experience to stationary industrial, and finally, to enter into and grow automotive. The acquisition is the culmination of that strategy.

FFT: What’s the current status of the Juniper mobile industrial product?

IS: We’re currently shipping Juniper LPG engines to our lead forklift customer, Clark Materials Handling. The engines are contract assembled in Busan, South Korea, integrating OMVL’s fuel system on the Hyundai 2.4L base engine. They are then shipped to Clark’s Korean manufacturing centre—within an hour by road from our assembly centre—and assembled into Clark forklifts and shipped globally. The first U.S.-bound forklifts have now landed on North American soil. The Juniper team is fully supporting Clark during the initial production ramp, and we look to further expand our customer base in the forklift and construction applications in the near future.

FFT: You mentioned a non-mobile industrial segment? What is happening there?

IS: We have begun field tests in oilfield applications with five engines in service that are pumping oil 24/7. Those engines operate on the wellhead natural gas that is produced from the well with the oil. The wellhead natural gas runs our engine, which in turn drivers a hydraulic unit that pumps the heavy oil out of the ground; it’s essentially a closed-loop system. When the trials are complete, we will be looking to also formalize customer relationships in other stationary applications such as power generation and agriculture.

FFT: OMVL is based in Italy. Will that change, due to the acquisition?

IS: No. OMVL is based in Pernumia, Italy, and is strong in Europe and sells products globally with the exception of North America. As we know, Westport’s main market is North America with additional global sales that are largely outside of Europe. Juniper and Westport facilities are largely concentrated in North America and Asia, whereas OMVL facilities provide a strong footprint in Europe and Latin America. The pieces fit together nicely.

FFT: So what now, Ian?

IS: We will use the current Juniper industrial and OMVL businesses as a foundation from which to grow by leveraging the strengths of both companies and evaluating strategic investments. On the industrial side, we expand with new markets, partners and products. In automotive, Juniper will grow the business through new OEM relationships and continued strong aftermarket sales. Strategic investments in new areas such as North American automotive, OEM class products and system installation capabilities, will allow us to compete for market leadership.

Read the press release on the acquisition or for more information visit http://www.juniperengines.com/.