In the framework of decreases in emissions, vehicle manufacturers depend on every saved CO2 value. Thus, tyres have received an entirely sustainable task. Future tyres will have to be developed in a climate-neutral way, produced ecologically, and used efficiently. The first step consists of optimally using tyres until the wear limit. In order to reach this goal, tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS), which are mandatory in passenger cars nowadays, have turned out to be very useful. They provide tyres with optimum filling pressure at any given time. As a consequence, wear is minimized, and tyres are able to achieve higher mileage. Combined with predictive driving behaviour, passenger car tyres will be enabled to provide service for a very long time.
Saving potentials
According to Michelin’s calculations, impressive savings will be possible, if all the tyres are driven until their possible wear limit. Only in Europe, about 128 million tyres will not be needed per year, which equals savings of 6.6 million tons of CO2 emissions per year. Worldwide savings of enormous tons of raw materials and CO2 emissions can be achieved
The tyre industry has been doing research into effective solutions in that area. The leading tyre manufacturers have organised their budgets for research and development accordingly. During the past years, above all premium tyre suppliers have launched possible tyre solutions of the future by developing spectacular concept tyres. Only recently, Goodyear presented a special concept tyre called Eagle Go for the concept vehicle Iconic Electric oli, which was developed by Citroën. The developers estimate a mileage of 500,000 kilometres, which would include two retreading processes. This number has already moved very close to the equipment feature of a lifetime tyre for a car.
TPMS obligation for commercial vehicles
In the segment of commercial vehicles, there have also been many developments extending tyre life because of digital tools. A short time ago only, it was decided that TPMS became an obligation for commercial vehicles too. After a transition period, each new vehicle and trailer entering service will have to be equipped with TPMS as of 2024. The goal is very similar to the passenger car segment. More mileage, focused retreading and thus, less consumption of raw materials, less energy, and fewer CO2 emissions.
The efficient use of tyres can be an important key for the vehicle industry. This is indicated by the tyre label being mandatory for each tyre and only starts with features like rolling resistance and rolling noise as crucial eco levers. At the same time, the tyre industry has been trying to reduce abrasion with innovative rubber compounds. In the future, tyres will be more sustainable.
Advancing Digitalization in the tyre through RFID chips
Current TPM systems represent a first step towards tyres of the future. At the moment, tyre pressure and temperature are checked. Further potential areas of use are being developed at the moment. The topic of RFID chips represent a further interesting possibility to move digitalization forward. RFID stands for radio-frequency identification and allows a contact-free identification of the tyre based on radio waves via a respective chip. The unobtrusive small construction part has already been built in by some tyre manufacturer. Vulcanization does not cause any problem for chips.
It is not even possible to properly predict the performance capacity of RFID chips. They are able to collect huge amounts of data. A tyre equipped with a chip provides information on its previous life cycle: production factory, production date, vulcanization time, ingredients of rubber compound, tyre type. Moreover, the chip can prevent wrong mounting. In the future, time of use will probably be stored on demand too. An interplay between electronic driver assistance systems, e.g., with ABS or ESP systems, may also be possible. Looking at autonomous driving, completely new systems of regulation and steering could be developed. The use of RFID chips in passenger car tyres promises indeed many advantages. It is not without reason that nearly all the big tyre manufacturers have been working on this technology.
