Abstract
European Tyre Labelling, according to Regulation (EC) 1222/2009 and its subsequent amendments, has been one of the first schemes to show the performances of tyres to end-users. European labelling is based on rolling resistance, related to fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, wet grip, related to braking distance in wet surfaces and then with safety, and rolling noise. Considering this first scheme, a lot of countries have introduced this kind of label in their market: Japan and Korea have their own labelling scheme and countries as USA, Brazil, China or Saudi Arabia are thinking into introducing their own labelling.
An overview and an in-deep analysis of each regulation/standard and tyre labelling system have been developed. Taking as a reference the European tyre labelling Regulation, the different criteria to take into account and the different scale and grades to be considered are compared, and the corresponding and potential benefits for the environment (due to the reduction of the rolling resistance) and for the safety (due to the improvement in the wet grip adhesion) are the basis of the paper. By comparing all the schemes, it is possible to identify possible improvements of European labelling system as there will be a revision of the regulation soon.
As the application of the tyre labelling regulations is quite recent, results are starting to appear. From one way, tyre manufacturers are improving the performances shown in the label, mainly rolling resistance and wet grip, in order to have some product in the magic A-A performance level. Moreover, average level of performance is increasing in order to appear as a tyre with good performance for the end-users, as there is a direct comparison among products. Finally, market control activities are starting and the way to check that tyres are correctly labelled is being tested nowadays.
The paper offers a worldwide point of view about tyre labelling, including a full comparison among standards, performances and potential benefits, and considering last updates.
Economic, environmental and safety issues of tyres are now shared to the end users. The next steps are started to be discussed, as which are the tyres that should be introduced, which are the performances to be considered and then, the design of the future tyre labelling is starting to be designed by today. New challenges are appearing for the tyre industry to improve tyre performances.
KEYWORDS – Tyre labelling, tyre performances, rolling resistance, wet grip, noise