ConsumerReports Blog
Tires have a large impact on vehicles' fuel economy. At an event in New York City last week, executives at Michelin tire said that after discounting engine and other losses, tire rolling resistance accounts for about 20 percent of the energy needed to power a car. Overall, Michelin figures that tires account for about 3 to 5 percent of the nation's CO2 emissions and about 9 percent of U.S. oil consumption.
In a country burning nearly 4 trillion barrels of gasoline and diesel fuel per year for transportation, as the United States is, that's a lot of fuel going to turning tires. Doing the basic math, 3 percent of 4 trillion barrels is about 120 billion barrels a year. Rolling resistance varies with tire wear, condition, alignment, load, speed, inflation pressure, and road texture, so exact calculations are difficult to come by.
Jim Micali, president of Michelin North America, says that the company's next-generation Energy Saver tire can cut rolling resistance by a further 20 percent over its current line of low-rolling-resistance tires. Michelin expects that a 50-percent reduction in resistance is possible in the next 10 to 15 years. A 20-percent reduction in rolling resistance would be equivalent to a 3-percent savings in fuel consumption for drivers.
I wonder what kind of crazy milage we could pull out of the current Prius/Civic with tires that were rated at 50-percent less rolling resistance!
Michelin to produce better low rolling resistance tires?
Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by F8L, Nov 19, 2007.
