Westport Innovations has entered into an agreement with General Motors to help develop advanced natural gas engine technology.


Both General Motors and Westport will bring their extensive expertise to develop natural gas engine controls, emissions and performance strategies.

Westport announced the planned opening of a new Technical Center in Michigan. Westport's personnel currently includes approximately 15 people in Farmington Hills, and Westport plans to add more people and invest in facilities as demand grows for natural gas-powered, alternative-fuel vehicles.

To support OEM programs, Westport plans to add research and development facilities to develop technologies that enable vehicles to run on natural gas for business and government fleets, and personal use. Utilization of domestic energy, the creation of jobs and protection of the environment, are all part of Westport's business objectives.

"Hybridization, lower-displacement with turbo charging, direct injection and other fuel-saving technologies now being applied to gasoline and diesel engines, can also be applied to natural gas fueled engines for even greater improvements in efficiency and fuel cost savings," Lapetz said.