Bridgestone supplies ‘hyper-efficient tyre’ for Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX

Mercedes-Benz AG has selected Bridgestone as the tyre development partner for its Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX. The outcome? Bridgestone engineers collaborated with Mercedes-Benz to create custom-designed tyres to contribute to a real-world range of 1,000km on a single charge. According to Bridgestone, collaboration on this project “sets the stage for the future of EV tyres and is underpinned by a shared EV-ready vision between the companies.”

Bridgestone designed bespoke Turanza Eco tyres that combine its proprietary and lightweight Enliten Technology to reduce tyre rolling resistance and weight by up to 20 per cent (compared with Bridgestone premium summer tyres with and without Enliten Technology in size 92Y 225/40R18 XL) plus ologic technology designed to enhance battery range via large diameter low rolling resistance plus narrow tyre width to reduce aerodynamic resistance.

The tyre also comes with optimised sidewalls and a bead area design that match the covers mounted on the 20-inch, forged-magnesium wheels, which further improves the tyre’s aerodynamics.

The tyres were developed using Bridgestone’s virtual tyre modelling and simulation capabilities, which enable a digital version of an in-development tyre to be created and tested. Using this technology means that development time was cut considerably. Indeed, Bridgestone used the virtual environment for “a large part of the development process”, enabling prediction of how the tyre would perform in different conditions before physically building it.

Emilio Tiberio, COO and CTO at Bridgestone EMIA, commented: “As part of our commitment to help shape a sustainable future of mobility, Bridgestone is proud to have co-developed with its long-term partner the right tyres for a project as innovative as this. The Mercedes-Benz VisioN EQXX is a project that is totally aligned with our own EV ambitions and targets, especially as we are investing to make electric mobility more efficient and accessible through a fully integrated approach. This includes pioneering premium tyres and tyre technologies able to tackle the greatest EV challenges. This is especially true as we heavily invest in EV tyre development – currently allocated over 30 per cent of our R&D resources – and improve upon our technologies in 2022.”