Future Tire: Simple things make a difference 

London – The single most effective improvement that can make tires more sustainable today is enhancing air-retention, according to ExxonMobil Chemical.

“When we think of sustainability we shouldn't just focus on things that make great headlines or very long term goals,” said a company spokesman in a Q&A ahead of the Future Tire Conference 2019, in June.

ExxonMobil will be represented at the conference by Arancha Guisuraga, global market development manager, specialty elastomer and butyl business.

“Improved air-retention increases energy-efficiency of vehicles and tire life,” said ExxonMobil which offers a cost-effective halobutyl rubber technology to address the issue.

Properly inflated tires can improve fuel consumption by 1-2% , increase EV vehicle range by 3-7% and increase tire life by 5-16% depending on the type of vehicle, said the company citing its in-use vehicle testing.

ExxonMobil also stated that approximately 4 billion litres of fuel could be saved and 8 million tonnes of CO2 emission would be cut if 25% of the global vehicle fleet was equipped with tires that had air retention performance of 1.75% versus the global average of 2.4%.