Bridgestone has applied its lightweight and environmentally-friendly Enliten technology on Turanza Eco tyres specially engineered for the Lightyear One solar electric powered car developed by Netherlands-based mobility company Lightyear.
The Lightyear One will hit test tracks in Q2 2021 and be commercially available by the end of Q4.
The Enliten technology enables tyres to have a super low rolling resistance while requiring less raw materials to be used, providing significant efficiency contribution in order to maintain battery life, maximise vehicle range, and reduce environmental impact.
Recent research from Bridgestone has shown that nearly 50 per cent of European drivers consider acquiring a fully electric vehicle, and yet 37 per cent are still skeptical about doing so due to concerns around efficiency and limited range.
Lightyear claims to have addressed these concerns by offering an unprecedented range of 725km and three times more energy-efficiency for the Lightyear One, compared to alternative electric vehicles currently on the market. The vehicle is charged directly by the sun through a large solar roof, minimising CO2 emissions and the charging needs of the user. Lightyear has pushed the boundaries of current technology, designing a vehicle that boasts the best aerodynamic coefficient of any production car to date through substantial gains in many different areas of vehicle design. To further improve on efficiency, Lightyear sought a tyre that offered very low rolling resistance and weight reduction, in order to preserve battery life, maximise vehicle range, and reduce environmental impact.
Bridgestone developed custom-engineered Turanza Eco tyres for Lightyear One, combining its lightweight Enliten and ologic technologies for the very first time. The technologies reduce weight through the use of fewer raw materials throughout the manufacturing process, while cutting rolling resistance through innovative tread, larger diameters, high inflation pressures and slim design.
The very low rolling resistance of the tyres also means Lightyear One can benefit from a lighter battery. As a result, the Turanza Eco tyres are designed to boost range when compared to alternative Bridgestone EV-specific tyres, equivalent to more than a 90kg reduction in weight. In addition to helping Lightyear One to travel further between charges, the tyre’s silica dispersion has been improved by applying a new mixing technology, there is a 3.6kg (around 10%) overall reduction in the tyre’s weight per vehicle, without any compromise on wear mileage and grip.
For the first time, the Turanza Eco tyres will bear the new Bridgestone EV Marking on the sidewalls. The Bridgestone EV Marking is applied to tyres that are tailor-made for electric vehicles and indicates the tyres underwent a rigorous testing process to receive approval from car manufacturers. As a result, these tyres support the unique features of electric vehicles and meet the car manufacturer requirements for battery range, vehicle control and tyre wear life.
Bridgestone also utilised its Virtual Tyre Development technology which enables accurate modelling of a tyre’s performance without having to physically produce and test it, saving up to 40,000 kilometres in real-life outdoor and fleet testing. It can also cut product development time and outdoor and fleet tyre tests by up to 50 per cent.
The foundation for Lightyear One was laid during the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, a 3,000km race across the Australian Outback that pushes the limits of technological innovation and solar-powered mobility. With this in mind, Bridgestone has been collaborating with Eindhoven Technical University and the people behind Lightyear for eight years. Solar Team Eindhoven, the birth ground of Lightyear, won the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge’s Cruiser Cup four consecutive times, from 2016-2019.