Perkins Engines heralds technology driven future with drop in diesel performance regardless of fuel

Perkins Engines plans a technology driven future to make alternative fuels, including Hydrogen, work across all sectors, supporting the move to Net Zero.

At its recent press conference, Peter Haddock spoke to Paul Muller to find out all about its future fuel vision and integrated power train development.

Paul: "Our engineers have not only been designing new engines like the 2600 Series Platform, they have also been looking at how we can combine them with our electric solutions to create new possibilities for OEMs."

And the team has even designed its own telehandler, which combines a 55kW engine with a 20kW battery, replacing the previously used 75kW engine.

Paul: "The telehandler is a great example of how you can change how a machine is powered as this unit operates indoors with zero emissions and outdoors around our Peterborough site.

"It's this capability that we are able to design into our integrated power trains and control systems by collecting and using data on machine utilisation and applications.

"It's also core to our approach to delivering a drop-in diesel performance, regardless of fuel type. For example, when we look at alternative fuels like Hydrogen, ethanol, methanol or biomethane, each wiil vary in cost and performance compared to diesel.

"So depending on which fuel you use, you need to consider the power density and where you can boost performance for certain activities machines need to carry out by combining power sources.

"This also relates to how a machine can be either refuelled or charged and why we have announced our Project Coeus, which focuses on ease of integration.

"The goal of Coeus is to deliver engines requiring minimal vehicle rework, which will ultimately help smaller companies, particularly with engine-related development costs."

Peter added: “Perkins is now actively working with OEMs to explore the exciting opportunities this approach can deliver for the next generation of equipment they will power. So stay tuned for more reports in the future.”