Q&A
Accelerating Change
Cummins executive Amy Davis provides a familiar face to a new brand that defines the company’s zero-emissions path going forward With Ryan Gray |
ryan@stnonline.com
S
ometimes things don’t end up the way you thought they would. But then again, they work out exactly as you planned.
Amy Davis is a perfect example. At first glance, graduating college with a major in English and minor in education doesn’t signal a 27-year career at Cummins, one of the world’s largest engine manufacturers. “I thought I might want to be a teach-
er, or writer, or something like that,” she shared in May, not long after coming off the general stage at the Advanced Clean Transporta- tion Expo in Anaheim, California. Davis keynoted day three on the pathway to zero emissions for the commer- cial truck and bus industries. But in leading Cummins’ new power business, rebrand-
ed to Accelera by Cummins earlier this year, Davis stays true to her education roots by overseeing the lessons learned and taught to literally thousands of fleet operators, not to the least of which those operating the estimated 90 percent of large school buses powered by Cummins diesel, gasoline or natural gas engines. “It’s always been exciting and interesting to see the
innovation that actually impacts the environment,” she added. “I got excited about being in a heavy-duty industry because our innovations actually make a difference. Our products get better. I can actually guide it down the path.” That path is now toward zero-emissions vehicles,
whether they be powered by electric batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, or both. School Transportation News sat down with Davis to gauge her perspective on the transition from diesel to electric for school buses, a partnership with Blue Bird to manufacture 1,200 to 1,800 next-gen- eration electric school buses by the end of next year, and what to expect from the traditional diesel juggernaut in the years come. Editor’s note—The following transcription is edited for space and clarity.
52 School Transportation News • JULY 2023
STN: Can you compare and contrast the two experiences that you’ve had at Cum- mins, going back to the decision to go with SCR for diesel engines to now tran- sitioning to electric vehicles, especially as it pertains to school buses?
Davis: I was thinking about it a lot,
actually preparing for the talk, because I made that analogy. When I joined, we were just moving to electronic engines.
We had parallel technologies for a long time to help the early adopters and the laggards. And I think the parallel I see now is similar in that …
people want to go slow and try the things for some period of time before they commit. This period we’re in right now is that early period, where people want to try differ- ent configurations, different suppliers, different things. And we’re fortunate because we have a lot of companies investing in this space. But it’s just not sustainable. And until the adoption can happen, and we can pick and people can commit ... we’re already starting to see players having to drop out or consolidation happening in the market because they can’t keep funding all the iterations. That’s one parallel. People want everything at some point. The industry has to coalesce on a couple of the technolo- gies and solutions so that we can get economies of scale and start to move forward.
STN: What are your thoughts on the EPA Clean School
Bus Program and the differences between the year-one rebate and the current competitive grant competition? Are there things that perhaps you think are better than others with that program especially for school districts? Many don’t have grant writers.
Davis: That’s a good point. I’m not really an expert in the different kinds of funding. I would say more broad- ly, [school buses] need the funding. There needs to be sustained funding sources to really accelerate the adop- tion. There’s no way we would have the demand in the
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