Goodyear is upping its eco-friendly game by unveiling a demo tyre that comprises 90% sustainable material.
That’s quite an achievement and to make things better, the tyre has passed all applicable regulatory internal testing to be approved for road use in the near future.
Lower rolling resistance, better fuel savings
Goodyear also stated that its demonstration tyre made with 90% sustainable material has a lower rolling resistance compared to the reference tyre, which also means that it has the ability to offer improved fuel savings as well as a reduced carbon footprint.
This was accomplished thanks to 17 different ingredients across 12 tyre components. The carbon black used in the production is made with methane, CO2, plant-based oil and end-of-life tyre pyrolysis oil feedstocks instead of the burning of petroleum products.
Other additions include
Soybean oil for rubber compound pliability
Silica from rice husk waste residue (RHA silica)
Polyester from post-consumer bottles
Bio-renewable resins from pine trees + more
70% sustainable-materials tyres to go on sale in 2023
While the 90% sustainable-material tyre still has quite a bit to go, Goodyear also announced that a 70% version will go on sale in 2023. That’s already a good figure but in order to reach 90%, Goodyear needs to finalise its collaboration plans with supply bases regarding things like materials and volume.
This movement also falls in line with the brand’s support towards autonomous transportation via its Goodyear Sightline technology and its usage by one of North America’s autonomous delivery network companies, Gatik. The Goodyear Sightline technology is said to ‘accurately estimate tyre-road friction potential’ and deliver that data to Gatik’s automated driving system for better safety.
