On Tuesday, retail giant Walmart announced that it is moving forward with a pilot program to add natural gas powered engines to the company’s private fleet of trucks as part of a partnership with Cummins and Chevron.
In the April 18 announcement, Walmart said that the company is ready to roll out “the first North American—and the first of five— 15-liter compressed natural gas engine that will be incorporated into Walmart’s private fleet.”
The X15N™ engine is supplied by Cummins.
“Natural gas engines have a comparable range to diesel engines of around 700 miles – which makes them a great potential fit for our sleeper cabs – and can produce tangible emissions benefits that compound whenever powered by renewable natural gas (RNG) or RNG-linked fuel,” Walmart said in a 2022 blog post announcing the natural gas pilot program.
Walmart says that natural gas pilot program is a step towards the company’s goal of achieving zero emissions across global operations by 2040.
As part of the debut of the natural gas powered engine, the Walmart truck will make a trip from Indiana to California, stopping to refuel at Chevron stations. At the end of the trip, the Walmart truck will be on display at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo in Anaheim, California, on May 1 — 4.
“Walmart transportation is focused on the continuous piloting of solutions that aren’t just changing the industry, but are having a lasting impact on the world,” said Fernando Cortes, senior vice president of transportation at Walmart. “We are proud to team with Cummins and Chevron to develop industry-leading advancements that pave toward a lower carbon future.”
“Working with partners like Walmart to test new products like the X15N gives Cummins valuable real-world data that helps us validate our engines prior to moving into full production,” said Puneet Jhawar, general manager – Spark Ignited Products for Cummins. “Chevron has also been very helpful in our test; to help increase CNG fuel availability that will enable adoption of alternate technologies faster.”
“Chevron is constantly pursuing solutions that drive progress toward a lower carbon future,” said Andy Walz, Chevron’s president of Americas Products. “Partnering with Walmart and Cummins on the road trip and demonstration can help us deliver that progress today for the transportation, the industry, and customers who rely on all of our products to advance a lower carbon economy.”