Pirelli P Zero E a Tyre of the Year
Christophe Rollet, managing director of Point S Group, hands the award to Alejandro Recasens, Pirelli’s West Europe managing director (Photo: Pirelli)
The Automobile Club de France has named the Pirelli P Zero E ‘Tyre of the Year’ at the 2023 Automobile Awards. A jury of 20 men and women selected the Pirelli tyre for its performance, innovation, and sustainable development. Alejandro Recasens, Pirelli’s West Europe managing director, accepted the award on behalf of the tyre maker.
Developed with electric vehicles and sustainable mobility in mind, P Zero E is the first UHP tyre on the market with over 55 per cent bio-based and recycled materials. Pirelli says these materials reduce the fossil and mineral-derived materials in a set of tyres by around 12 kg. Moreover, tyre wear (in terms of mass loss) is reduced by 42 per cent compared to traditional UHP Pirelli products. This is also the first UHP tyre to achieve a triple A rating on the European tyre label across the entire range. These characteristics are denoted by a new Pirelli sidewall symbol that all tyres containing at least 50 per cent sustainable materials carry.
Pirelli specifically developed P Zero E for battery-electric vehicles, as evidenced by the ‘Elect’ marking on every product in the range, which indicates characteristics such as low rolling resistance and reduced noise. RunForward technology, which continued driving at up to 50mph for up to 25 miles in the event of a puncture, also makes its debut.
Throughout the P Zero E design process, tyre developers utilised advanced virtualisation technologies based on artificial intelligence, neural networks and driving simulation. Pirelli says its R&D department increasingly relies on machine learning to predict the performance of each tyre under different driving conditions, even before a physical prototype is produced. These simulation systems are able to predict tyre behaviour based on previous developments, enabling us to propose effective solutions.
New generation of Pirelli tyres
“We are extremely proud to have won the Tyre of the Year Award,” states Alejandro Recasens. “The P Zero E, which stands for the new generation of Pirelli tyres, is a very important milestone of our commitment to sustainability. Our ambitions and investments in this area are strong: we’re aiming for carbon neutrality in our industrial process by 2030 and have science-based targets towards decarbonisation of our supply chain as well.”
The Pirelli P Zero E tyre will be initially available in 17 sizes for the aftermarket starting from January 2024.
The Automobile Awards, held this year for the sixth time, brought together 53 brands, including automakers and automotive suppliers. Point S served as sponsor this year’s Tyre of the Year award.
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