Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Company has unveiled a demonstration tyre composed of 90 per cent sustainable-materials. This demonstration tyre has passed all applicable regulatory testing as well as Goodyear’s internal testing.
This demonstration tyre also tested to have lower rolling resistance when compared to the reference tyre, made with traditional materials. Lower rolling resistance means this demonstration tyre has the potential to offer better fuel savings and carbon footprint reduction.
In addition, after announcing the capability to demonstrate a 70 per cent sustainable-material tyre in January 2022, Goodyear, working with its supply base, plans to introduce a tyre with up to 70 per cent sustainable-material content in 2023 as a limited run.
Further collaboration
Bringing a 90 per cent sustainable-material tyre to market will require further collaboration with the company’s supply base to identify the scale necessary for these innovative materials to produce that specific tyre at high volumes.
“We continue to make progress toward our goal of introducing the first 100 per cent sustainable-material tyre in the industry by 2030,” said Chris Helsel, senior vice president, global operations and chief technology officer.
“The past year was a pivotal one toward achieving this goal. We researched new technologies, identified opportunities for further collaboration and utilised our team’s tenacity to not only demonstrate our capabilities to produce a 90 per cent sustainable-material tyre, but to also produce a tyre with up to 70 per cent sustainable-material content this year. Our team continues to showcase its innovation and commitment to building a better future.”
The shift to sustainable materials is evident in some of Goodyear’s current product lines. Today, eight product lines, and some racing tyres, include soybean oil. In addition, Goodyear has more than doubled its use of RHA silica in its product lines since 2018. With the introduction of a tyre with up to 70 per cent sustainable-material content, Goodyear is demonstrating tangible commitment with in-market solutions to building a better future.
