COLOGNE, Germany—Bridgestone Corp. has re-engineered the way it designs and makes tires to reduce the products' weight with no trade-off in wear performance, according to a presentation at Future Tire Conference held June 11-12 in Cologne.
The new technology, dubbed "Enliten," uses breakthrough technology to reduce weight by 10 percent, on average, versus a standard premium summer touring tire, Bridgestone said. It also reduces a tire's rolling resistance by up to 20 percent.
Bridgestone soon expects to unveil partnerships with auto makers that will use tires made with Enliten technology on their vehicles.
The Enliten technology, according to Bridgestone, employs a compound mix and a dedicated mold design concept that yields improved wear performance and a shallower tread depth. In addition, the tire's reinforced inner liner is thinner.
These design measures ensure tires made with the technology use less raw materials while reducing consumption and CO2 emissions in combustion vehicles and extending battery life and vehicle range in electric vehicles, Bridgestone added.
In announcing the development, Bridgestone noted that European legislators have set strict targets on original equipment manufacturers to reduce the CO2 emitted by their vehicles.
Paolo Ferrari, CEO and president of Bridgestone EMEA, called Enliten a "great step forward" for Bridgestone's long-term environmental vision to manufacture products from raw materials that are fully renewable and sustainable by 2050 and beyond.