Is Cummins Really Making A 6.7L Gas Engine?

If you've even casually contemplated purchasing a Ram truck powered by a diesel engine in the last couple of decades, the name Cummins is undoubtedly familiar to you. The Indiana-based company has, after all, been at the forefront of the diesel game for decades now. Since 1989, engines bearing the Cummins name — such as the largely celebrated 5.9L and 6.7L builds — have even been powering diesel Ram pickup trucks. 

As big a name as Cummins is in the diesel game, the company has reportedly been eyeing a pivot toward a market it has less of a foothold in — that of gasoline-powered engines. Rumors of Cummins developing a gasoline-powered version of its 6.7L engine had been swirling for some time. Back in 2022, the company noted that a gasoline-powered version of its 6.7L power plant is indeed part of its future plans. It seems Cummins is further along in development than thought, and initially planned to make it available in the near future. 

There are actually a lot of other engines in the works at Cummins alongside that gas-powered 6.7L engine. The company is actually in the process of shifting toward a more fuel-agnostic approach via its HELM program, with those letters serving as an acronym for Higher Efficiency, Lower Emissions, Multiple Fuels. The gas-powered version of Cummins' well-liked 6.7L diesel build looks to become a major fixture in that program, with the range of new platforms signaling that Cummins is eyeing a future beyond diesel. 

Even with Cummins embracing energy sources like hydrogen, natural gas, and gasoline, it's unlikely that it will abandon diesel. It's more likely that the company is looking to broaden its lineup with a range of engines to meet the needs of any and every consumer on the market. And if that is the goal, it's beyond reasonable that the company would add an octane engine to its stable.

Cummins' claims it's not just looking to add a run-of-the-mill gas-powered build to that stable, but instead seeking to deliver "the most durable and reliable gasoline engine in the market." As such, it makes sense that the 6.7L diesel might serve as inspiration, as it's already well regarded on both fronts. The company's advanced X15 and X10 lines, however, aren't being eyed for a gas-powered model. Instead, Cummins is tabbing the B-series lineup for that honor, with its octane engine debuting with the B6.7 badge.

Those octane engines are being developed as a medium-duty option capable of meeting stringent emissions output set by the EPA and the California Air Resources Board, and per Cummins' President of Engine Business Srikanth Padmanabhan, these engines are intended to pack "diesel-like durability and performance" (via CCJ). The company has, reportedly, already manufactured a working prototype of the B6.7 gasoline engine. The initial plan was to roll the engines out sometime in 2024; however, we have yet to see them running out in the automotive wilds. As of this writing, it remains to be seen when we might actually see Cummins 6.7L gas engines out there in numbers.

Now, for those curious about what "fuel-agnostic" means, the goal of said approach is to make a single engine platform that can operate using different types of fuel. Cummins has been working hard to develop its fuel-agnostic program in recent years, perhaps in hopes of expediting the world's journey to a zero-emissions goal line. That goal line appears to be closer than ever, as the manufacturer has already developed the industry's first fuel-agnostic platform in its 15-liter X15 Series — which will eventually boast models that run on natural gas, advanced diesel, and hydrogen.

According to comments made in 2023 by Antonio Leitao, Cummins Vice President of Global Off-highway Engine Business, the goal is indeed to take the X15 approach and apply it to other power plants in its lineup, noting in a press release, "Moving forward, our aim is to offer the same agnostic capability across the next-generation of our current 6.7 liter and 9 liter engine platforms". The fuel-agnostic concept will apparently be carried over to several other platforms, with Cummins noting that its X10 models will follow the X15s in their usage of both advanced diesel and natural gas, though it will apparently not feature a hydrogen build. 

The use of alternative energy sources in those platforms is aimed at helping users of heavy machinery work toward a future with a far smaller impact on the environment. With the HELM program up, running, and already producing working prototypes, Cummins is well on its way to making that future a reality.