The manufacturer has said that its Model 579, 567, and 520 truck ranges may now be specified with the new Cummins engine, with start of production scheduled for the third quarter of this year.

It appears that the upgrades at the plant are meant to prepare it for the eventual development of Cummins’ fuel-agnostic engine platform, a series of engines designed to run on fuels such as natural gas and hydrogen and derived from a common base engine.

With natural gas derived from renewable sources (such as waste), customers can cut their carbon emissions by up to 90%.

An order for 100 LNG-powered 55t tractor units have been secured from Pune-based multimodal logistics services company, CONCUR.

With this delivery, Ashok Leyland claims it is the first OEM to supply a vehicle with an in-house developed LNG engine compliant to BS VI Stage II emissions guidelines. Ashok Leyland also launched a CNG version of the 1922 4x2 haulage truck.

Set to be released in 2024, Cummins claims that the X15N natural gas engine delivers diesel-like performance in terms of power, durability and reliability.

The third-generation demo truck, powered by a Cummins ‘X15N’ engine with renewable natural gas, hauled a fully loaded trailer on an 840-mile round trip in California to collect performance data.

The new injector design has two iterations: a high-pressure direct injector capable of fuelling applications from 25 to 200 kW per cylinder; and a high-flow port injector capable of “very high” gaseous fuel flow rates.

Scania says it is working with Spanish coachbuilder Irizar to integrate the ‘i6s Efficient’ with a Scania gas-powered chassis, with a target completion date of end-of-2025.

The onboard engines are modified to run on LNG with Westport’s high-pressure direct injection (HPDI) system.

The joint venture, which will make use of Westport assets and intellectual property, will receive an initial USD28m investment from Volvo, giving it a 45% stake.

Scania is active in Brazil with multiple partners in both bus and truck to encourage development of gas and biogas-powered vehicles.