Mitsubishi i-MiEV rolls on eco-conscious tires from Yokohama

As reported by Yokohama

LANGLEY, B.C.– The zero-emission Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car will roll across Canada on sophisticated, low rolling resistance Yokohama prototype tires manufactured in one of the world’s most environmentally responsible factories.

The prototype is a specialty tire manufactured using a Yokohama-developed technology designed to increase the amount of renewable content in the tire while lowering the tire’s rolling resistance and reducing the petroleum required in the manufacture.

The prototypes, which use many of the same technologies as the Yokohama dB Super E Spec line, are manufactured at a Yokohama Rubber Company plant in Japan with zero waste emissions – one of the most environmentally responsible tire manufacturing facilities in the world.

Photo: Yokohama

Yokohama tire dealers and their customers will meet the i-MiEV in key markets across Canada as the car tours the country as part of Mitsubishi’s Clean Across Canada project. A new consumer contest and website with more information on Yokohama’s environmental efforts will be launched in conjunction with the tour. Yokohama is a co-sponsor of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV’s Clean Across Canada tour.

The low rolling resistance design is critical to getting the maximum distance on each electric charge of the i-MiEV’s batteries. Rolling resistance is one of the factors that alternate power source vehicles must improve in the quest for greater efficiency. The vehicle will have eight of the Yokohama prototypes for the journey across Canada that starts on August 17, 2010, in St. John’s and concludes September 13, 2010, in Vancouver.

“We’re not only creating a tire with extremely low rolling resistance but one that will be made from more renewable resources than a conventional tire, in facilities that break new ground in waste recovery and re-use,” Yokohama Tire (Canada) Inc. National Marketing Manager Jonathon Karelse explains. “That makes Yokohama the ideal partner for an innovative program like the Mitsubishi ‘Clean Across Canada’ tour.”

Earlier this year, Yokohama Canada announced support for the Sunstang solar car program at the University of Western Ontario. Financial sponsorship from Yokohama will help a team of student engineers to investigate a new solar-powered car design that separates the vehicle from the solar charging system.

Yokohama was the first corporate supporter of the project, which will see the student team design, engineer and build a three-wheel car powered by electricity derived from the sun.

Since 1994, Yokohama has been expanding its environmental credentials in both product and manufacturing, becoming one of the world’s most environmentally responsible tire makers. The company is on track to reach the stated corporate objective of reaching zero manufacturing emissions in its global manufacturing system by 2011.