Michelin Fill Up with Air Campaign “Helps Nearly 5,000” Reduce Emissions

Michelin says it has helped nearly 5,000 motorists save fuel this summer as part of its annual Fill Up With Air campaign. The event has been touring the UK since May and shows drivers the importance of keeping tyres at the correct pressure. The tyre giant believes the campaign has reduced the annual CO2 emissions of participating drivers by around 145 tonnes, assuming the 4,753 drive an average of 12,000 miles per annum at 35mpg. These figures suggest those motorists would save more than 12,700 gallons of fuel and around £70,000 on fuel bills in addition to the increased wear and the added costs of replacing incorrectly inflated tyres more frequently.

Based on these sample figures, if every car in the UK – a parc of 30 million cars – was running on correctly inflated tyres then the nation could save £440 million pounds on fuel and reduce its CO2 emissions by more than 1,000,000 tonnes a year. Michelin points out that in addition to the ecological and economical reasons for ensuring correct tyre pressures are maintained, a car’s handling and safety can also be affected. It also puts more stress on the vehicle’s steering and suspension components leading to possible wear and additional maintenance costs.

Michelin’s head of communications, Peter Snelling, said: “The Fill Up With Air campaign has been the biggest to date, reaching thousands of motorists. Not only does driving with the wrong pressures have an effect on the environment, but it can seriously compromise safety. Tyres that are under inflated can cause poor handling on the road and potentially lead to serious accidents and put lives at risk. There are lots of ways that people can help to cut their carbon footprint and keeping tyres at the correct pressure is a simple and very cheap solution.”

The campaign found that more than 37 per cent of drivers in the UK were running on dangerous or very dangerous tyres (more than 8psi under-inflated) and more than 5 per cent of motorists were driving with at least one punctured tyre. Michelin is urging drivers to check their tyres pressures not only as part of Energy Saving Week which is running from 25 to 31 October, but also monthly and before a long journey.