Big Green Machines

A TesIa is fine for the morning commute, but to power the huge trains, trucks and ships that move the global economy, hydrogen is the ticket. Cummins, a century-old maker of dirty diesels, is leading the charge. The company's stylish, canti' levered steel -arid-glass office tower in Indianapolis looks more like the headquarters of a tech company than a business that lives on diesel fumes. The incongruity continues in Columbus IN. The leading US maker of diesel engines happens to be run by a Silicon Valley native with a Stanford engineering degree is another surprising twist. CEO Thomas Linebarger began laying the groundwork for an evolutionary shift at Cummins six years ago, acquiring companies with battery, hydrogen and fuel-cell expertise and setting up a new division focused solely on next-gen powertrains.