Michelin Rubber for Green Friendly Concept Car

At the upcoming Frankfurt show Citroen will display a concept car with a strong all-round environmental flavour. The vehicle is intended to demonstrate that cars needn’t be complex, expensive or ecologically wasteful to produce, and even the tyres get the green stamp of approval.

The rubber featured on the Citroen C-Cactus, a car based upon the C-4, is recycled. Produced by Michelin, the low-profile 21-inch tyres are not only environmentally friendly in terms of their use of recycled materials – they also provide low rolling resistance, a quality that leads to lower fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

The non-tyre parts of the C-Cactus have also been given the treatment. Power is provided by a diesel-electric hybrid unit consisting of a 70bhp diesel engine and a 30bhp electric motor, which combined deliver an exceedingly frugal 83mpg and carbon dioxide emissions of just 78g/km. The car’s top speed of 93mph may be sniffed at by some yet it is sufficient to earn a speeding ticket on any UK road or motorway, and for low speed city driving an electric only mode provides zero emission running.