GILLIG and Cummins Celebrate Electrified Power Partnership

Early this month, GILLIG LLC and Cummins announced a new electrified power partnership at the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) show in Atlanta, Georgia (USA). The technical collaboration work focuses on integrating and optimizing new battery electric technology offered by Cummins that will soon power GILLIG zero-emissions transit buses. GILLIG is the leading manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses in the United States.

“GILLIG has a very strong business relationship with Cummins, and now, with our new technical partnership, we have been able to share our respective technology roadmaps and jointly develop a vision to deliver the most comprehensive, advanced technology battery-electric bus in the market for our customers,” said Derek Maunus, President of GILLIG.

“We have leveraged our companies’ decades of heavy-duty transit experience in the design of the system, and will integrate this advanced technology into GILLIG’s industry-leading proven platform,” added Maunus. 

Amy Boerger, Cummins Vice President — Sales North America commented, “The Cummins electrified powertrain displayed here represents a major leap forward for the industry, and we are delighted that GILLIG will have first access to this important zero-emissions technology. The partnership enables a close technical collaboration so we can accelerate system integration and performance optimization work to leap ahead of others in the industry.” 

Initial development work for the new battery electric GILLIG bus plans for a 200-mile operating range on a single charge. The bus will feature a direct-drive traction motor with peak torque of 3,500 Nm (2582 pound-foot), and utilize energy recovered from a regenerative braking system. A package of e-accessories will be powered by the Cummins system. The initial bus deployment will use a plug-in charger. 

“Beyond the technical development work, the partnership will also encompass the full range of 24/7 service support, diagnostics, over-the-air connectivity, flexible warranty plans and training programs ready for when these GILLIG electric buses enter service,” said Boerger. 

“At Cummins, we see our customer support network equally as important as the technology we offer, and it will be a distinct advantage for us when we introduce electrified systems,” added Boerger. 

Cummins currently powers the GILLIG series of Low Floor, BRT, BRTPlus, Commuter and Trolley buses with a broad portfolio of clean-diesel, near-zero natural gas and diesel-hybrid power. The addition of Cummins electrified power systems to the bus range will align with transit customers looking to introduce zero-emissions buses to their fleets while still maintaining commonality with their existing GILLIG vehicles and service support provision.

“Cummins and GILLIG have been working together since the 1950s to introduce innovative bus power solutions — and I am really excited to be continuing that success forward into the new era of electric buses,” noted Maunus.