Westport Innovations Inc. says it is partnering with GAZ Group, the largest commercial vehicle OEM in Russia, to develop natural gas systems from GAZ's new portfolio of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles.
Westport says the initial focus will pair the company's new WP580 engine management system and spark-ignited natural gas engine technologies with GAZ's YaMZ-530 4.4- and 6.6-liter diesel engines. These platforms will be applied in GAZ's light- and medium-duty commercial vehicles.
The WP580 system ‘can be integrated with a wide range of proprietary Westport fuel system components for flexible vehicle design and production,’ according to the company.
GAZ and Westport anticipate that the first CNG vehicles resulting from this partnership will be in commercial production next year.
