Manufacturer backs eco-tyre technology as industry awaits word on commercial vehicle product
By Rob McKay | May 23, 2013
Yokohama Tyre is making bold predictions about the future of tyre materials.
The company launched locally its personal vehicle BluEarth AE01 “eco-tyre”, which contains orange oil, at Sydney’s Top Gear Festival in February, though its dB Super E-Spec, with similar technology, appeared in the US in 2008.
Now, Yokohama Tyre Australia Managing Director Tatsuya (Tim) Murata says the inclusion of orange oil at a nano-particle level to replace some petroleum-based oil content is “just the beginning”.
And while the company is yet to comment on potential commercial vehicle applications in Australia, industry speculation has surfaced that this is the logical next step, perhaps starting with buses but with freight vehicles in the picture as well.
In the US last year, the company launched the Avid Ascend, able to be used in minivans, which appears to give the speculation at least some credence.
“By including orange all in this new eco-tyre, we’ve achieved not just the introduction of a genuine eco-focused tyre, we are meeting strong performance expectations of the consumer market for more tyre malleability with increased lifespan,” Murata states.
“We are pleased to be using oil that is a by-product from the food processing sector and infusing this at a nano level into the tyre to give us these two qualities, which are normally mutually exclusive.
“The amount of orange oil in these tyres is not a huge quantity – for scientific reasons the amount used is optimised to maximise the safety and performance factors we set out to achieve.”
Murata adds that: “Business owners and fleet managers around Australia can now operate knowing that even their tyres have reduced petroleum oil content and improved grip, they are saving fuel and reducing the frequency at which they need to replace tyres.”
ATN is awaiting a company response on commercial tyre applications of orange oil technology.