- News
Every month, we’ll bring you news on various motoring subjects. Whether it's tyre technology, innovation, the latest in electric vehicles, or any other new and interesting developments, we’ll keep you in the know.
Always innovating, Bridgestone is a number one global tyre and rubber manufacturer who is always making news. So we thought it only fitting to make Bridgestone News the first in a series of curated news.
1. Bridgestone & Fisker Ocean Unite Sustainability Ambitions
Image source: https://www.fiskerinc.com/
Fisker Inc. is a passionate creator of the world’s most sustainable electric vehicles and advanced mobility solutions. Bridgestone is a global leader in tyres and rubber, providing safe and sustainable mobility solutions. On 4August 2021, Fisker selected Bridgestone as the exclusive tyre partner for its all-electric Fisker Ocean SUV.
Fisker will start production in 2022.
"Our mission is to become the No. 1 e-mobility service provider on Earth, featuring the world's most desirable and sustainable vehicles while shaking up the old automotive industry model – from the way a customer attains a vehicle, chooses affordable insurance, services a vehicle to the overall mobility experience."
– Henrik Fisker, Chairman and CEO, Fisker Inc.
2. Chase Your Dream’ Donates in Support of Para Athletes
Bridgestone, worldwide Olympics Partner has pledged to donate $125,000 (+-R1,882,712) to provide para athletes with grants. The donation is set to go to the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), Adaptive Sports Ohio, and Amputee Blade Runners. The money would fund individual athlete grants for sports equipment, training, competition travel, as well as support for community programming.
"Bridgestone is committed to working with partners who can help drive awareness and change regarding diversity, equity and inclusion in our communities, and we have seen how sports can create opportunities and networks of support for all individuals,"
–Paolo Ferrari, President and Chief Executive, Bridgestone Americas
3. Former Bridgestone Factory to Become a Collection & Retreading Unit
Mobivia is a French-based company group which focuses on car repairs, car accessories and car parts. Black-Star is a French company specialised since 1979 in the manufacture and distribution of retread tyres for passenger vehicles, light trucks, 4x4 vehicles, and SUVs.
Together with Bridgestone, the three companies have signed an agreement to develop an integrated tyre recycling ecosystem on the former Bridgestone tyre plant in Béthune, France.Work is scheduled to start in January 2022 and is expected to create jobs for former Bridgestone employees. The industrial site will be developed to become a collection, sorting, and retreading unit.
With this project, 80% of the original material will be saved for every reconditioned tyre, and lays the foundations for tyre reconditioning that benefits the environment. Consumers will have a wider range of eco-responsible tyres to choose from at a more affordable price.
“…It is part of our strategic objectives to use 40% sustainable materials by 2030, then 100% by 2050, since retreading can reduce the quantities of raw materials used in the tyre by 80%."
– Daniel Giroud, Sales Director and member of the executive committee of Bridgestone EMIA
4. Tyres Made from Natural Rubber
For several years, The Bridgestone Group has been conducting integrated R&D activities from cultivation technology and natural rubber extraction processes towards the use of guayule in tyre manufacturing. A perennial shrub native to the southwest and northern Mexico, Guayule produces a high-quality rubber and other materials.
It was March 2012, when the company first announced the group’s plans for an extensive research project in the US dedicated to developing guayule as a commercially viable renewable source of high quality natural rubber. Now, in 2021 with years of extensive research behind them, they are about to start phase two of its research pilot project, expanding to 600 acres and testing different varieties of the shrub.
Through efforts such as the Guayule research project, the Bridgestone Group is working to develop technologies and processes that reduce, reuse, and recycle raw materials. The Group is also working to develop tyres using 100% sustainable materials.
5. Potenza Sport & Race Tyres for Lamborghini
Bridgestone was selected as the exclusive tyre supplier for the Lamborghini Huracán STO. The tyre manufacturer will supply the new sports car with custom-developed Potenza Sport and the semi-slick Potenza Race tyres, which were engineered for both road and track.
“We are pleased to have selected Bridgestone again to develop two tyres specifically for the Huracán STO… these two bespoke Bridgestone options synchronise perfectly with the Huracán STO’s innate dynamic capabilities, providing drivers with a tyre that responds perfectly in a variety of performance settings, and maximizing our super sports car’s capabilities on both road and track.”
– Maurizio Reggiani, Chief Technical Officer, Lamborghini.
6. Renewable Energy to Power Tyre Manufacturing Facilities
Image source: Bridgestone
Bridgestone Corporation has taken a significant step towards sustainability by switching from external electricity suppliers to 100% renewable energy sources. AS Since 8 July 2021, four of their tyre plants, Hikone, Tosu, Shimonoseki, and Kitakyushu now make use of hydro, geothermal, solar, and wind energy.
This move towards renewable energy is expected to generate a 30% reduction in total carbon emissions from all ten domestic tyre plants in Japan compared to 2011. The ratio of renewable electricity will be increased to approximately 42%.
The tyre and rubber manufacturer will reduce carbon emissions by further expanding its use of renewable energy, improving energy efficiency of tyre production, and installing new solar power generation systems through to 2030.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational, educational, or entertainment purposes only. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability, and accuracy of the content.
