“> Photo Provided Amy Davis, who has led Cummins’ new energy business since 2020 and will serve as President of Accelera, speaks at Accelera’s Washington DC debut Wednesday morning.
Cummins Inc.’s new energy business is taking on a new name as the company seeks to highlight its portfolio of zero-emission technologies and its strategy to remain competitive during the energy transition.
The Columbus-based company announced on Wednesday that its new energy business segment will now be called Accelera by Cummins. The rebranding, which includes a logo and color scheme, aims to “shed a bright light” on the products the business segment currently offers and “the strong position we aim to have in the zero-emission solutions market going forward.” company officials said.
Cummins President and CEO Jennifer Rumsey unveiled the new name Wednesday during an event at the Rubell Museum in Washington, DC Rumsey was joined by Amy Davis, who has led the new energy business since 2020 and will serve as Accelera’s president.
The portion of the business, renamed Accelera, encompasses Cummins’ growing electrified power and hydrogen portfolio and represents much of its effort to invest in technologies aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
The business segment, which employs about 2,000 people worldwide, will remain headquartered in Columbus, company officials said.
“Cummins is known for our engine solutions,” Rumsey said Wednesday at the event. “What people may not realize is that today we are at the forefront of these zero-emission technologies and have really expanded our capabilities. It is about time that we were recognized as both an engine solution provider and a zero emission solution provider for commercial and industrial applications.”
The launch of Accelera is Cummins’ latest effort to declare itself a leader in zero-emission technologies and secure its place in a world that is moving away from the fossil fuels that the company’s engines have traditionally used.
Filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office indicates that Cummins may have been considering the move for at least a year. The company trademarked Accelera in March 2022, federal filings show. Cummins also filed separate filings regarding Accelera last January.
The business segment has seen two name changes since Cummins added it as the company’s fifth segment in early 2018. Originally called Electrified Power, the segment aimed to “design, manufacture, sell and support electrified power systems ranging from all-electric to hybrid,” according to the company’s first-quarter 2018 report.
In 2019, former Cummins Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger announced the renaming of the segment to “New Power” after the company added hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen generation to its portfolio.
Currently, the business segment makes up a small percentage of Cummins’ total revenue, although the segment’s earnings before interest and taxes are growing, according to filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Last year, the new energy business posted revenue of $198 million, up from $116 million in 2020 and $72 million the year before, according to the company’s annual reports. And officials for the company have said they expect the business segment’s revenue to continue growing in the years to come.
Rumsey said Wednesday that the company expects Accelera to generate $350 million to $400 million in revenue. Last year, company officials unveiled an annual revenue target for the business segment of $6 billion to $13 billion by the end of the decade.
“We’ve invested heavily and built the new energy business… and at this point we really feel like it’s time to launch Accelera by Cummins to really shed a bright light on what we are today.” have, and the strong position we aim to take in the market for zero-emission solutions for the future,” Rumsey told The Republic. “…I think we’re known for motor-based solutions. The introduction of Accelera by Cummins further clarifies our position in this market for zero-emission technologies.”
The announcement comes as the diesel industry is now at something of a crossroads, as alternative fuel technologies become more viable and concerns about catastrophic climate change continue to shift the way companies and policymakers think about energy use.
Diesel fuel is refined from crude oil and, according to the US Department of Energy, is used to power compression-ignition engines named after their inventor, Rudolf Diesel.
Most freight and delivery trucks, buses, farm and construction vehicles, and some cars and pickup trucks use diesel engines, the US Energy Information Administration says.
But that is likely to change in the coming decades as industry moves towards a range of greener fuel types and energy sources, including battery electric, hydrogen and natural gas engines, among others.
How the transition is unfolding and could have major implications for a city like Columbus, whose economy is heavily rooted in auto manufacturing, and for the industry as a whole.
Last year, Cummins unveiled its long-term growth strategy, with company executives calling the energy transition a “growth opportunity” for Columbus’ largest employer.
The strategy largely involves investing in and producing technologies that company officials believe will play a key role on the road to zero emissions, including a wide range of clean diesel and other lower-emission technologies, company officials said.
The company announced Wednesday that it has invested more than $1.5 billion in research and technology, capital and acquisitions over the past several years to expand Accelera’s leadership and technology capabilities.
According to the company’s 2022 annual report, the business segment is currently in the early stages of commercializing these technologies, with efforts primarily focused on the development of electrolyzers for hydrogen production and electrified power systems, and related components and subsystems.
Electrolysers use electricity to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen can then be used to generate electricity.
“We have ambitions to grow this business significantly and this (new brand) gives us the opportunity to move into areas like electrolysers where others don’t recognize Cummins as a player, given our history in transportation and mobility,” Srikanth Padmanabhan, president of Cummins’ engine business, told The Republic. “This now offers a place (through) that is Cummins not only in the transportation and mobility space, but also in the electrolyser space.”
Wednesday’s announcement wasn’t the first time Cummins has rebranded part or all of its business. In 2001, the company, originally called Cummins Engine Co., renamed itself Cummins Inc. “in recognition that Cummins is more than an engine company,” former Cummins chairman and CEO Tim Solso said Change naming time to The Republic.
For her part, Rumsey said Cummins has a “fairly broad” portfolio of zero-emission technologies — and expects that footprint to continue to grow.
“Today we have more than 500 battery-electric powertrains in use in commercial vehicle applications. We have more than 2,000 fuel cells used in various applications – trucks, trains, boats – (and) 600 electrolysers. So Cummins already has a pretty broad footprint of zero emissions technologies and it’s growing,” Rumsey said.
