Michelin Reaches Initial Prototype Development Stage For New Tires Geared Toward Reducing Rolling Resistance

All of the Audi Mileage Marathon vehicles were outfitted with Michelin Green X low rolling resistance tires. Low rolling resistance tires help improve fuel economy. Photo courtesy of About.com.

GREENVILLE, S.C.- Michelin - at the one-year marker of its three-year partnership plan with Clemson University - has begun testing the first of a series of tire prototypes being developed to reduce rolling resistance and increase fuel economy in next generation vehicles.

“We have been doing a lot of computer simulation work. We are getting some results that are helping us in our path toward the goals that we have for the project. We learned a lot about aerodynamic losses in this first loop that we weren’t expecting,” said Jim Anderson, research director for passenger car and light truck tires of Michelin America’s research and development company.

“When you work on a long-term project like this, new approaches are tried, which also bring up new challenges. Our ambition is quite high for this project in terms of being able to significantly reduce rolling tire resistance and reduce the energy contribution that tires make in operating a vehicle,” added Mr. Anderson.

At this stage in the research and development, Mr. Anderson was unable to elaborate more on these reduction potentials, saying, “I am not at liberty to share our results, but I can tell you that we are on track.”

The focus of this project is to develop new tire materials, though Mr. Anderson was unable to elaborate on the materials being considered. He did add that, “we are not looking at tread design in this project. We are treating that research internally in a separate activity.”

Michelin HyrdoEdge tire. Photo courtesy of walkertireco.com.

The role of Clemson in the project is to participate in developing new tire materials using the latest in manufacturing processes, technologies and simulation tools. “ This research takes us in new areas and Clemson’s research team and laboratories are a great asset to us,” said Mr. Anderson.

Clemson and its International Center for Automotive Research are receiving a $1.9 million contract to participate in the development of the new technology. Michelin is expecting to investing a total of $6.8 million in the project as a whole, which includes the company’s own internal research activities.

While these new tires are still in the early development stages, Michelin did release two new “Green X” tires earlier this year- the new Energy Saver All-Season tire and the new HydroEdge.