Electric vehicles may have no emissions but they still emit toxic waste through tire. Really, all cars shed pieces of used rubber as they drive along the road, as the rubber and other toxic compounds in the tires wear out.
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Because EV is heavier and they accelerate faster than ICE-powered cars, they chew the tires faster and release more dirt particles, or exhaust gases, from the tires. But a startup in London called Tire Collective trying to clean up after electric cars burned rubber – and also ICE-powered cars – with a device called a “box” mounted behind the wheel. Basically, it is a container for exhaust gases from the tire.
The exhaust has a catalytic converter that collects the waste, and now the tires have this new (unnamed) device, according to Bloomberg. The tire catcher box uses an electrostatic plate. When a car tire rolls, the particles are “charged from road friction” and the Tire Collective box sucks them in.
The device can pull up to 60% of emissions from tires in the lab, but only about 20% in real-world conditions. The startup is currently testing prototypes on a few delivery vans in London to increase grain collection rates.
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WOMENAs electric cars are hitting the market, Tire Collective thinks this is the best time to perfect their design. Due to their larger size, higher weight and greater torque, electric vehicles produce 20% more emissions from tires than comparable ICE-powered cars. A combustion car emits 73 milligrams per kilometer from all four tires; a comparable amount of EV with an estimated 88 milligrams per kilometer. Damn, metric!
In any case, we’re talking about small amounts of particles per mile, but when you consider how many vehicles are on the road and the distance each one will travel, the emissions from the tires will increase. Research shows that tires are the second source of microplastics in the ocean. And because scientists have barely begun to study and catalog tire emissions, we don’t quite know how dangerous these pollutants are.
You can read about the dangers of petrochemicals in tires at Bloombergbut a study cited in the report found a new by-product of tire exhaust called 6PPD-quinone, mass salmon killing in Washington state.
When exposed to sunlight and air, 6PPD transforms into a chemical called 6PPD-quinone, which turns out to be highly toxic to coho salmon – causing them to spin, gasp at the surface and then died within a few hours.
Agencies in the US are trying to add tires containing the chemical preservative 6PPD to their list of dangerous products. to remind tire manufacturers to find safe substitutes. But research on tire emissions is relatively nascent. The whole issue has been overshadowed – understandably – by exhaust emissions and CO2 pollution.
Tire Collective plans to put its particle-collecting device in Advertisement and urban fleet. The startup hopes it can convince electric vehicle manufacturers to equip new cars with similar equipment at the factory. The devices are then emptied during the maintenance intervals, and these granules can be used to manufacture new tires or other rubber products. It’s a hell so much better than it ends up in the ocean.
