Bridgestone Enliten lightweight tyre tech to reduce rolling resistance, weight

Bridgestone has launched Enliten, a new lightweight tyre technology designed to reduce rolling resistance and contribute to the reduction of a vehicle’s CO2 emissions, while providing the same wear life as a standard original equipment tyre. The company states the new material will benefit car manufacturers, drivers, and the environment.

Enliten has been launched into a market feeling the effects of dwindling resources and climate change. European legislators are setting increasingly strict targets on original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to reduce the CO2 emitted by their vehicles. As a result, the technology has been developed to achieve such goals through original equipment tyres. On average the rolling resistance of a passenger tyre is 20 per cent lower than a standard premium summer touring tyre, Bridgestone claims, which could help reduce fuel consumption, CO2 emissions in combustion vehicles, and extend battery life and vehicle range in electric vehicles.

Enliten also enables passenger tyres to be reduced in weight by an average of 10 per cent, Bridgestone adds. The advantages of this are a reduction in raw materials used to manufacture the tyres, and lower rolling resistance. Bridgestone adds that Enliten is able to achieve all that without any trade-off on tyre wear or safety – the technology actually improves handling and stability, the manufacturer adds.

A new approach to tyre design

Bridgestone says Enliten has achieved this through an innovative approach to tyre design and production. The technology combines a proprietary compound mix that enables improved wear performance and a decreased tread depth, a reduced and reinforced inner liner thickness, and a new dedicated mould design concept.

Paolo Ferrari, CEO and president Bridgestone EMEA, commented: “Becoming more sustainable is the responsibility of every person and business on this planet. For example, at Bridgestone, everything we do must contribute to our sustainability strategy, ‘Our Way to Serve’. Of course, our customers have their own initiatives, and as their partner, we are responsible for helping them achieve their goals as best we can. As we are working towards our long-term environmental vision to manufacture products from raw materials that are fully renewable and sustainable by 2050 and beyond, Enliten is a great step forward.”

In the face of current social, economic and technological trends, Bridgestone’s strategy is to move from being a premium tyre producer to a mobility solutions provider. In recent years, Bridgestone Corporation has invested heavily in R&D; it says it has spent “approximately €800 million per year” to develop new technologies, products and solutions that can enable customers, fleets and end-users to become more sustainable and more efficient.

It adds that it will soon announce partnerships that will see Enliten technology applied to vehicles in the European market.