Mercedes-Benz has selected Bridgestone as the development partner for tires for the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX, a futuristic EV that aims to achieve a higher range by increasing vehicle efficiency.
Engineers at Bridgestone worked collaboratively with the OEM to design highly efficient custom Turanza Eco tires for the vehicle to help increase real-world driving range to 1,000km, enabling the Vision EQXX to travel from Sindelfingen in Germany to Cassis, France, on a single charge. The new tire contributed to the vehicle achieving an energy consumption of 8.7kWh per 100km on the journey.
Bridgestone combined its lightweight Enliten Technology, which enabled a reduction in rolling resistance and the overall tire weight by up to 20%, with its ologic technology, designed to enhance battery range through a large diameter tire to reduce rolling resistance and a narrow tire width to reduce aerodynamic resistance.
During development the tire manufacturer teamed up with Mercedes-Benz’s aerodynamic department to optimize the Turanza Eco sidewalls and to design a bead area which matched the covers mounted on the Vision EQXX’s forged-magnesium wheels. As a result, the tire’s aerodynamic properties were improved.
Virtual tire modeling and simulation processes were implemented to enable the digital testing of the in-development Turanza Eco tires. Bridgestone was subsequently able to predict how different variants of the tire would perform in a wide range of conditions before producing a physical prototype.
By greatly reducing the product’s development time, the virtual technology offered several environmental benefits. This resulted in fewer natural resources being used and lower exhaust emissions as fewer prototypes needed to be made and tested.
“As part of our commitment to help shape a sustainable future of mobility, Bridgestone is proud to have co-developed with its long-term partner the right tires for a project as innovative as this,” said Emilio Tiberio, COO and CTO, Bridgestone EMIA.
“The Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX is a project that is totally aligned with our own EV ambitions and targets, especially as we are investing to make electric mobility more efficient and accessible through a fully integrated approach. This includes pioneering premium tires and tire technologies able to tackle the greatest EV challenges. This is especially true as we heavily invest in EV tire development – currently allocated over 30% of our R&D resources – and improve upon our technologies in 2022.”
