New brand, new era: Cummins has rebranded its new energy business as Accelera

Cummins Inc.’s new energy business is getting a new name as the company looks to highlight its portfolio of zero-emission technologies and its strategy to remain competitive during the energy transition.

The Columbus-based company announced Wednesday that a new energy business unit will now be called Cummins Accelera. The rebranding, which includes the logo and color scheme, is meant to “shine a bright light” on the business unit’s current products and “reinforce our strong position in the market for zero emissions solutions in the future.” Officials of the organization said.

Cummins President and CEO Jennifer Ramsey announced the new name at an event at the Rubel Museum in Washington, D.C. Ramsey will join Amy Davis, who will lead the new energy business beginning in 2020, and will serve as president of Accelera.

The rebranded business unit Accelera includes Cummins’ electrified power and hydrogen portfolio and represents the majority of its efforts in technologies aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

The business unit, which employs about 2,000 people worldwide, will continue to be headquartered in Columbus, company officials said.

“Cummins is well known for our engine solutions,” said Ramsey. “What people may not realize is that today we have a leadership position and built capacity in these zero-emission technologies. It’s time to be recognized as a provider of engine solutions and zero-emission solutions for commercial and industrial applications.”

The launch of the Accelera is the latest effort by Cummins to position itself as a leader in zero-emission technologies and secure its place in a world where the company’s engines are moving away from fossil fuels.

Filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office suggest Cummins may have been considering the move for at least a year. The company trademarked Accelera in March 2022, federal records show. Cummins made several filings related to Aclera last January.

The business unit has undergone two name changes since adding Cummins as the company’s fifth division in early 2018. Initially, the unit will be called Electric Power, which will “design, manufacture, sell and support electric power systems from all-electric to hybrid,” according to the company’s first quarter 2018 report.

In the year In 2019, then-Cummins Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger announced that the division was being renamed New Energy after the company added hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen generation to its portfolio.

The business segment currently accounts for a small percentage of Cummins’ total revenue, although the segment’s earnings before interest and taxes are growing, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Last year, the new energy business reported sales of $198 million, up from $116 million in 2020 and $72 million the year before, according to the company’s annual reports. And company officials said they expect the business unit’s revenue to grow in the coming years.

Ramsey is projecting that the company will generate between $350 million and $400 million in revenue for Asilera. Last year, company officials announced an annual revenue goal for the business of $6 billion to $13 billion by the end of the decade.

We’re investing heavily and building the new energy business… and we really feel at this point, it’s time to launch Accelera by Cummins to shine a bright light on what we have today and the strong position we plan to take. “…I think we are well-known for engine-based solutions. Launching Accelera by Cummins makes our position in this market of zero-emission technologies even clearer.”

The announcement comes as the diesel industry finds itself at a crossroads, as alternative fuel technology advances in reliability and the threat of dire climate change is once again reshaping the way companies and policymakers think about energy consumption.

Diesel fuel is refined from crude oil and used to fuel compression engines named after its inventor, Rudolph Diesel.

Most freight and delivery trucks, buses, farm and construction vehicles, and some cars and pickup trucks use diesel engines.

In the coming decades, the industry is expected to accelerate toward a variety of environmentally friendly fuels and energy sources, including battery electric, hydrogen, and natural gas engines.

How the transition plays out could have big implications for a city like Columbus, whose economy is based on automotive manufacturing, and for the industry as a whole.

Last year, Cummins outlined its long-term growth strategy with company officials describing the energy transition as a “growth opportunity” for Columbus’ largest employer.

The strategy mainly involves investing in and producing technologies that company officials believe will play a key role in the path to zero emissions, including a wide range of clean diesel and other low-emission technologies, company officials said.

The company announced Wednesday that it has invested more than $1.9 billion in research and technology, capital and acquisitions over the past several years to build Acceler’s leadership and technology capabilities.

The business unit is currently in the early stages of commercializing these technologies, focusing primarily on electrolyzers for hydrogen production and electrified power systems and related components and subsystems, according to the company’s 2022 annual report.

Electrolytes use electricity to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. Then the hydrogen can be used to generate energy.

“We have ambitions to grow this business significantly, and this (new brand) will give us an opportunity to go into other areas as an electrolyser that may not have recognized Cummins as a player because historically, we’ve been in the transportation and mobility space,” said Srikanth Padmanabhan, President of Cummins Engine Business. “This now gives us a place to say that Cummins is not only in the transportation and mobility space, but also in the electrolyser space.”

Wednesday’s announcement was not the first time Cummins has rebranded part or all of its business. In the year In 2001, the company was originally named Cummins Engine Co. The company used to call itself Cummins Inc. “Cummins has recognized that it is more than an engine company,” then-Cummins chairman and CEO Tim Solso said at the time of the name change. .

Ramsey, for her part, said Cummins has a “very broad” portfolio of zero-emission technologies and expects that footprint to continue to grow.

“We have more than 500 battery electric generators in commercial vehicle applications today,” she said. “We have more than 2,000 fuel cells operating in various applications — trucks, trains, boats — (and) 600 electrolyzers. So Cummins already has a very broad footprint of zero-emission technologies, and it’s growing.”