Kenworth will soon offer Cummins’ first gasoline-powered engine, the B6.7 Octane, in its Class 5 to 7 conventional trucks.
The engine for medium-duty trucks runs on 87-octane gasoline and achieves diesel-like performance, Cummins says. It has a horsepower range of 200 to 300 and torque up to 660 foot-pounds.
The engine also meets future federal and California emissions requirements set to take effect for trucks starting with 2027 model years, the companies say. Kenworth made the announcement March 5 at the NTEA Work Truck Week in Indianapolis. The news came thev same day as Cummins revealed its new B7.2 diesel engine at the show.
Cummins lists the following attributes of its B6.7 Octane engine:
- No need for diesel exhaust fluid or active regens.
- Simplified maintenance and operation over diesel engines.
- Up to 10% increased fuel economy over other gas engines.
- Oil-drain intervals of 15,000 miles.
- Fuel-tank options of 45 to 80 gallons.
Cummins says the engine has undergone 2 million miles of testing. It was the first B Series engine built on the HELM platform, designed to reduce emissions, increase fuel efficiency and able to be modified to run on alternative fuels. HELM stands for “Higher Efficiency, Lower emissions and Multiple fuels” and was launched in 2024 to help customers adapt to future emissions requirements and meet emissions-reduction goals.
“The engine was validated against the same standards as Cummins diesel B6.7 engine,” said Kevin Haygood, Kenworth’s assistant general manager for sales and marketing manager. “With environmental regulations changing, it spurred us to offer another engine option to our customers. The new Cummins B6.7 Octane engine will meet stringent emission regulations, so we expect it to be a popular option in California and other states that have adopted CARB’s standards. It can be a great fit for many of our customers’ applications, especially in P&D (pickup and delivery) and towing applications. We also see it being popular for the lease and rental markets, as well as for landscapers, where those behind the wheel are used to driving gas-powered vehicles.”
The Octane engine will be paired with the PACCAR TX-8 automated transmission and will be available for order later this year, according to Kenworth.
