Fisker Ocean to roll on Bridgestone tyres

Bridgestone will serve as the exclusive tyre supplier to the Fisker Ocean. Announcing its selection of Bridgestone yesterday, the US-based carmaker shared that its all-electric SUV will ride on custom-developed Bridgestone Potenza Sport tyres featuring Enliten technology in Europe. It will offer the Potenza Sport on selected models sold in North America as well, equipping other models with the all-season Alenza Sport.

Prototype testing of the Fisker Ocean commences in the final quarter of this year. Bridgestone has developed two tyre dimensions for the SUV, 255/50 R20 and 255/45 R22. The tyre maker says it is tuning the 22-inch tyre to “create a sportier handling balance, consistent with the elevated performance requirements of the higher power versions of the Fisker Ocean.”

Fisker will debut the Ocean at the upcoming 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show and intends to begin production in November 2022, with vehicles arriving in the UK the following year. Fisker says it will extensively employ recycled materials in the Ocean, including an entirely vegan interior, and the SUV will be available with an optional photovoltaic solar roof.

The carmaker tasked Bridgestone with engineering low rolling resistance tyres in order to conserve the Ocean’s battery energy. It says the Potenza Sport tyres additionally “deliver an optimal driving experience focused on ride comfort and handling stability.” This is one of the first pairings of Enliten technology with its new UHP tyre; the tyre maker shares that Enliten reduces rolling resistance by up to 30 per cent and tyre weight by up to 20 per cent (based upon Bridgestone testing with the tyre size 225/40R18 XL 92Y). This equates to up to 2kg fewer raw material resources required to produce every tyre.

Reducing time & resources

Bridgestone developed the tyres at its European R&D Centre in Italy and will produce them at its Poznan plant in Poland. It utilised virtual tyre development technology to create the customised tyres for the Fisker Ocean. This enables the accurate prediction of a tyre’s performance without producing and physically driving it for the first part of the development process. In addition to making tyre development more sustainable, efficient, accurate and flexible, virtual tyre development cuts raw material consumption and CO2 emissions by approximately 60 per cent and reduces product development time and speed to market by up to 50 per cent. Fisker says the technology’s use in this project supports the Fisker Ocean’s “ambitions to be the world’s most sustainable vehicle” and will help to accelerate the project’s development time.

Strong sustainability agenda

“At Bridgestone, we see EVs as a huge opportunity to help achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and make mobility more environmentally sustainable,” says Laurent Dartoux, president and chief executive officer, Bridgestone EMIA. “But there are still many barriers to overcome before a fully electric future can be realised, and Fisker – like Bridgestone – is working to break those barriers down. Not only making EVs more accessible, Fisker is built from the ground up with a strong sustainability agenda that we wholeheartedly support. It’s brilliant to unite our shared ambitions and work together to achieve them.”

“We are thrilled to work with Bridgestone, a global leader in tyres and sustainable mobility, who shares our values and designed premium tyres that are the perfect match for the Fisker Ocean,” adds Henrik Fisker, chairman and chief executive officer of Fisker. “We have the ambition to make the most sustainable SUV featuring class-leading ride, handling, and range, and Bridgestone will play a key role in achieving this goal. We look forward to continuing to work closely together, collaborating on performance engineering and the technical development of the tyres.”