June 5, 2008

There’s talk, coming out of Brussels, of motorists being forced to fit eco-friendly tyres to their cars.  Tyres made from low-noise rubber offer improved rolling resistance, as well as a reduction in tyre noise.  The increased efficiency makes the cars fitted with the tyres use less fuel and therefore reduces emissions. 

Draft EU regulations have set out stringent new noise limits for the rubber that tyres are made from, which brings in the efficiency savings in by the back door.  These savings do have a concern attached to them though as the new tyres don’t offer the same levels of stopping power.  Tyre maker Continental warned that tyres made with low noise rubber have less grip and they reduce wet braking performance by up to 10 per cent.

Under the new rules tyres will also need to be fitted with stability control and tyre pressure monitors as standard, which could prove costly as many people would need a new set of tyres for their vehicle.  It hasn’t been made clear whether the new rubber rules only apply to new vehicles, or whether all drivers will have to fit them to their cars, but unless some form of part exchange tyre recycling scheme can be implemented, it’s hard to see wholesale tyre replacement as the ‘green’ option.

While many people may view this as an additional expense, the amount of fuel wasted due to incorrect inflation of car tyres is staggering.  An estimated 1.2 billion gallons of fuel is wasted in the United States alone, due to under inflation of car tyres.  In addition to this underinflation contributes to thousands of car crashes and hundreds of fatalities on the road each year.  It is estimated that being as little as 5ft lb down on the recommended tyre pressure can reduce your fuel consumption by 3 mpg.  With a car that returns 30 mpg that is a 10% increase on fuel used, at considerable expense.  So fitting your car with tyre pressure monitors would quickly save drivers the cost if fitting the pressure monitors.

With the cost of motoring cutting into household budget like no time since the seventies, governments are being asked to help people’s money stretch further.  If implemented properly the proposed legislation could help reduce both bills and emissions, but research needs to be undertaken with regards to the safety implications.

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