Focus on VECTO: Tires for a Sustainable Transport Sector
- Tires provide a lever for cutting CO2 emissions and boosting fleet efficiency
- Rolling resistance influences fuel consumption and CO2 emissions
- Choosing the right tires helps reach EU emissions targets
In this video, Continental illustrates how the rolling resistance helps cut CO2 emissions.
Hanover, February 24, 2021. The EU Emissions Regulation has been in force since August 2019. The clock is running. CO2 emissions must be radically reduced by 2030. In order to ensure that the targeted reductions are achieved in practice, the European Commission has introduced the VECTO simulation tool. Continental regularly updates and adds to the detailed information about VECTO on its website. The manufacturer of premium tires provides insights into the EU Regulation and what it means for the logistics sector and the aftermarket. Visitors to the site also learn how VECTO works and discover the part that tires can play in cutting CO2 emissions.
Get to know the challenges and help cut CO2
Chart showing the impact of rolling resistance as one of the key factors in saving fuel and cutting fleet operating costs efficiently.
A fleet’s carbon dioxide emissions are directly related to its fuel consumption and the rolling resistance of its tires. Rolling resistance is one of the main factors affecting fuel costs. It can account for as much as 30 percent of total fleet operating costs. What exactly rolling resistance is, which factors influence it, and which other tire parameters it affects, is all explained by Continental on a dedicated microsite. An illustrative, easy-to-understand video explains how rolling resistance helps save fuel and thereby reduce emissions. The choice of tires is a crucial lever for truck manufacturers and fleet operators in their efforts to attain the EU’s ambitious emissions targets.
To enable the manufacturers and operators to hit these targets, the European Commission has joined forces with the University of Graz to create the VECTO simulation tool. VECTO can simulate the CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of individual truck configurations. Continental has the answers to the key questions here, explaining how VECTO works, which vehicles the tool is suitable for and how the tires can help reduce fuel consumption and total fleet operating costs.
Tire Finder helps identify the right tires
Chart showing the impact of the various tire components on the rolling resistance.
With its new Tire-Finder, Continental is offering customers a very special service: This platform helps fleet managers choose the right tires for their long-haul or regional distribution operations. The core requirements of their fleet are analyzed in two steps, before the Tire Finder recommends a suitable tire line. In the first step, the tool distinguishes between the fuel efficiency and mileage of the tires. The second step takes their everyday mission profile into account: Do they operate mainly on motorways or regional roads? Does the truck mostly handle long-distance haulage or short-haul delivery work? The Tire Finder informs the customer about the tire portfolio and the characteristics of the different tires. The customer then decides which type of tire is the best fit for their business.
Background: CO2 emissions and VECTO
According to EU data, 25 percent of CO2 emissions from road transport across Europe are generated by heavy-duty vehicles. Along with tire pressures, vehicle configuration and load distribution, the rolling resistance of the tires is of decisive importance in terms of fuel consumption and thus the level of CO2 emissions. In accordance with the 2019 European Regulation setting CO2 emission performance standards for new heavy-duty vehicles, vehicle manufacturers must cut the CO2 emissions of their vehicles covered by the Regulation by 15 percent by 2025 and by 30 percent by 2030, compared in each case to the reference year July 2019 to June 2020. You will find Continental’s VECTO microsite here.
Annette Rojas
Communications Manager
Business Area Replacement EMEA
Continental Tires