Goodyear is greening its latest ElectricDrive GT tires, which are available as aftermarket replacement rubber for the Tesla Model 3—with soot that is independent of fossil fuel combustion.
Instead, the new tires use carbon black from Monolith, which is created through the pyrolysis of methane and does not require combustion, Goodyear said. Instead, Monolith’s methane pyrolysis process splits the methane molecule into carbon and hydrogen, using renewable electricity.
Carbon black is an essential ingredient in tires to resist tearing and wear. Due to the extra weight and higher torque capacity, Electric vehicles need different tires, also. In particular, the ElectricDrive GT series has a built-in sound barrier to road noise, which is also often an issue for electric vehicles, and it claims a quiet ride — although according to Goodyear, this is a line “ultra-high performance” car tire season.
Goodyear ElectricDrive GT Tires for Tesla Model 3
Goodyear did not say where it acquired the soot-generating methane in this process or state whether the process would actually reduce the carbon footprint of the resulting product. But it did note that it was investigating with Monolith the possibility of an expanded use of soot made from methane derived from waste sources.
In 2019, Bridgestone claimed to be the first tire company to manufacture tires with recovered carbon black from other industrial processes, and last year it said it was considering bringing natural rubber back tire. Goodyear in a 2022 shows a demonstration Tires made of 70% sustainable materialsthen just a year later, this January it increase your bet to 90%. The most recent type of tire is considered to be carbon black from four different sources. Both brands plan to use 100% renewable or sustainable energy, but that last few percent can be the biggest challenge.
Tesla Model 3 with prototype Goodyear airless tires
So far, this has only been the choice of companies interested in greening their image and reducing their carbon footprint, but the regulations could potentially apply to tire compounds in the future. California is considering Performance standards for replacement tiresalthough it’s basically a matter of ensuring certain fuel-efficient rolling resistance numbers.
