Michelin debuts 53% sustainable tyres at Goodwood
Michelin achieved 53% without any detriment to the “performance and safety levels that have long been hallmarks of its competition tyres” (Photo: Frederic Le Floc’h/DPPI)
The 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed begins today, and amongst the many delights on show is the new, fully-electric Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance. The Porsche test vehicle is particularly interesting to tyre aficionados as it is equipped with Michelins that contain 53 per cent sustainable materials.
Michelin emphasises that it has achieved this level of biosourced and recycled raw materials without any detriment to the “performance and safety levels that have long been hallmarks of its competition tyres.” The sustainable raw materials within the tyres supplied to Porsche range from natural rubber and carbon black recycled from end-of-life tyres, to orange and lemon peel, pine-tree resin, sunflower oil and scrap steel.
Concrete evidence of progress
The 53 per cent tyre arrives less than a year after Michelin unveiled a tyre containing 46 per cent sustainable materials at the Le Mans 24 Hours race. It developed that tyre for GreenGT’s fuel-cell electric racing prototype.
“Our close work with Porsche on the new, fully-electric 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance race car is concrete evidence of the progress Michelin has made in the fields of sustainable materials and electromobility,” states Matthieu Bonardel, director of Michelin Motorsport. “Just as it does in the FIA Formula E World Championship and motorcycling’s FIM MotoE World Cup, our involvement in the new all-electric championship alongside Porsche will enable us to accelerate the development of sustainable innovations that are ultimately accessible to all.”
Accelerating & carrying over technologies
Looking beyond its appearance at Goodwood, Porsche’s upcoming all-electric motorsport programme will provide Michelin with a chance to evaluate its sustainable solutions in the extreme conditions associated with topflight racing. The tyre maker says it is “effectively determined to accelerate the development of its technologies and their carryover to production electric vehicle tyres,” while the energy transition provides it with “a valuable opportunity for growth, along with a means to showcase its expertise and penchant for innovation.”
In keeping with its Michelin In Motion policy, Michelin plans to make all its tyres exclusively from sustainable materials by 2050.
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