Apollo Vredestein introduces a successor to the Ultrac summer tire. We like to believe that it is quieter and lighter than its predecessor and at the same time offers more grip. More interesting is that on that occasion we speak with CTO Daniele Lorenzetti. We ask him what the energy transition means for the tire industry.
For the time being, there is no special EV band on the menu. Will that come?
“We develop tires for the cars that are currently on the road. EVs currently represent 2.5 percent of the market, apart from a few outliers such as China and the Netherlands. We always pay special attention to matters such as rolling resistance and noise. There will certainly be specific requirements. for electric cars, but at the moment we don’t see any real differences between the requirements for conventional and electric cars. Nevertheless, we are monitoring this carefully and once we see a breakdown of the requirements for ICEs and EVs, we will certainly respond . “
Yet there are indeed differences …
“Electric cars generally have more torque. But cars with a combustion engine can also have a high torque. The extent to which that is addressed depends partly on the driving style. It is a matter of torque, not the type of drive. new generation different to the performance of a tire. We move towards things like autonomous driving and then the importance of comfort also increases. “
What kind of innovations can we expect from the tire sector?
“In the future, sensors in the tire will indicate when it needs to be replaced or otherwise requires maintenance, as well as when there is potential danger. A tire will then feed and share data with the rest of the car. is to collect that data, the second is to use it properly. “
Apart from lower rolling resistance, what greening can we expect from the tire industry?
“The Green Deal is forcing us to make a lot of changes. For the automotive sector, this mainly means a reduction in fuel consumption and emissions. The most important change is of course the transition to electric driving. But at the same time we also need to reduce the transport of goods. I believe that not only the vehicles, but also the logistics of our industry will change. We must prevent unnecessary goods being transported from continent to continent. “