Hankook develops new radial truck tyre range

ERJ staff report (RD)

Neu-Isenburg, Germany - Hankook Tire has developed a new radial tyre concept for long-haul commercial vehicles called e-cube, the company announced 2 Oct.

Hankook said the e-cube concept symbolises three development directions: energy - low rolling resistance, economy - high mileage, and environment - reduced hazardous materials and low rolling noise. The company added that, “starting from a common origin, this produces a three-dimensional geometric shape with equal edge length: The cube.”

“With the new 'e-cube' concept, we are catering specifically to the increased demands and needs of the commercial vehicle sector in matters of economy and environmental friendliness, although of course still to the highest safety level,” said Hankook Tire vice-president, Jin-Wook Choi.

Optimised for use in European long-haul transport, the e-cube tyres are already available as AL10 e-cube (All Position Long Haul) for the steering axle and DL10 e-cube (Drive Axle Long Haul) for the drive axle in the sizes 295/60 R22.5, 315/80 R22.5 and 315/60R 22.5, the statement said.

The TL10 e-cube (Trailer Long Haul) for trailers is already available in the size 385/65R 22.5. Six further sizes will follow in 2010, including widebase steering axle tyres in the size 385/55 R 22.5, and super-single trailer tyres in the size 445/45R 19.5.

According to Hankook, the tread compounds of the new e-cube generation use high-molecular weight rubber with specially long-chain molecules, which also demonstrate a lower tendency to branching and therefore display fewer free chain ends. This results in significantly cooler running tyres and significantly increased mileage, the company added. (RD)