Many motorists may not be aware of it, but it is not just the engine and other components under the bonnet that affect a vehicle’s fuel efficiency and environmental impact – the wheels underneath do too.

When tyres roll along the road, a certain amount of energy is lost in the form of friction and heat. This ‘parasitic’ energy is known as ‘rolling resistance’ and it uses between 5% and 15% of the fuel consumed by a vehicle. The EU labels tyres according to their fuel-efficiency rating. Those with the lowest rolling resistance are categorised as “A” and can potentially reduce a vehicle’s fuel consumption by as much as 5%.

An EU-funded project is working to take this technology to the next level. “Our research is addressing the greening of surface transport as one of the main challenges of our times,” explains Benoit Duez, a researcher at the Goodyear Innovation Centre Luxembourg, which coordinates the three-year LORRY project. LORRY aims to reduce the carbon footprint of goods vehicles.

It is doing this by developing the concept for an innovative low-rolling resistance tyre and a comprehensive fuel management tool box for fleets. “LORRY studies rolling resistance in its whole environment to optimise truck fuel consumption by correlating it with tyre pressure, load, driving style, road and weather conditions,” says Duez.

Never ‘tyre’ of innovation

The project, which is a public-private consortium between industry and research, is well on track to achieving its objectives. “We have developed new materials and a new design for tyres,” remarks Duez. “The innovative materials, along with enhancements in design and manufacturing technologies, have led to improvements in rolling resistance.”

In addition to new tyre compounds, LORRY has also created new tread features and an advanced characterisation platform. The team is also developing a road campaign simulation tool. “This will lead to a powerful predictive capability which will help to anticipate tyre performance today as well as in the future,” notes Duez.

Together, these innovations will not only boost efficiency and reduce cost for lorry operators and the road haulage sector, they will also make Europe’s transportation system more environmentally friendly.

LORRY’s work complements and serves the European Green Vehicle Initiative (EGVI) and the Europe 2020 Innovation Union’s focus on promoting sustainable behaviour.

But the benefits do not stop there. “All the actors in the transportation supply chain can benefit from LORRY,” says Duez. “By thinking far beyond existing limits to reduce the automotive industry’s carbon footprint, the project will illustrate the way forward to bring road transport into the future.”

Below picture of a two dimensional laser sensor system for the tyre tread deformation analysis

©  Aalto University