GM to partner with Wabtec on electric freight locomotives

General Motors and Wabtec Corp. are partnering to develop and commercialize the automaker’s battery and fuel cell technologies for locomotives.

General Motors and Wabtec Corp. will partner to develop and commercialize electric locomotives using the automaker’s battery and fuel cell technologies.

The companies announced on Tuesday that they had signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding for GM to engineer and supply its Ultium battery and Hydrotec hydrogen fuel cell systems for Wabtec freight locomotives.

“Wabtec’s decision to deploy GM’s Ultium battery and Hydrotec hydrogen fuel cell systems further validates our advanced technology and demonstrates its versatility,” GM President Mark Reuss said in a statement.

Reus added that implementation of the systems for the rail industry would expand GM’s customer base for the emerging technologies, while giving Pittsburgh-based Wabtec a supplier for battery and fuel cells for electric locomotives.