Environmental and climate protection are driving the development of modern tires. Today, road transport accounts for 15 % of total CO₂ emissions, with passenger cars making up 41 % of global transportation emissions. That’s why the vehicles of the future are to consume less fuel and thus emit less carbon dioxide. The components of the tire tread have a major influence on this, as tires with a low rolling resistance save fuel.

ULTRASIL® combined with Evonik silanes substitutes carbon black as reinforcing filler in tire tread rubber compounds. ULTRASIL® active filler in combination with the silane Si 363™ can reduce rolling resistance by up to 35 %. The Silica/Silane system in Green Tires saves up to 8 % of fuel, resulting in a potential saving of up to 1.4 metric tons CO₂e per car*. If all passenger car tread compounds worldwide used the Silica/Silane system instead of carbon black, 1,675,394,000 metric tons CO₂e could be avoided. Tires with a low rolling resistance will become even more important in the future of sustainable mobility, as they can help extend the range of electric cars.
* Based on 1.2 billion passenger car tires worldwide in 2020 and a car life cycle of 150,000 km. Solution for truck tires in progress.