LONG BEACH, Calif. (May 19, 2023) — Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) today held the world debut of its new Turanza EV grand touring tire, the company’s first-ever replacement tire designed specifically for premium electric vehicles and the first to feature Bridgestone ENLITEN technology. Launching immediately at tire retailers nationally, the new Bridgestone Turanza EV grand touring tire was purposefully designed to account for the unique vehicle dynamics of EVs, providing excellent tread life, minimal ride noise and confident wet handling to complement the electric vehicle experience. Designed, developed and manufactured in North America, the initial five sizes include fitments for Tesla Model 3, Model S, Model X, Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach-E, with 13 additional sizes launching in early 2024.
The Bridgestone Turanza EV tire is the first replacement market tire in North America to feature ENLITEN technology, which is engineered to help optimize all-season performance, provide longer wear life, and allow for the incorporation of renewable and recycled materials in its tire products.1 This revolutionary core technology focuses on:
- Next-generation tread compound designed with wear life and all-season performance, including wet performance, in mind.
- New structural components that help provide balanced ride comfort, excellent steering feel and controlled noise.
- Increased efficiency for both ICE and EV platforms through rolling resistance and wear optimization.2
- Supporting an increased use of renewable and recycled materials3 such as:
- Recycled carbon black from end-of-life tires
- Synthetic rubber derived from recycled plastic bags and bottles
- Renewable soybean oil
- Rice Husk Silica derived from rice husks, which gives a meaningful purpose to a typically discarded byproduct of rice harvesting
Bridgestone plans to grow and evolve ENLITEN technology and design features to deploy across its entire product line in the future. A new ENLITEN technology debuting on the Bridgestone Turanza EV is PeakLife, a next-generation polymer technology that enhances tread resistance to wear, aiding in enabling extended tire life.
Developed by Bridgestone engineers and scientists at the company’s Americas Technology Center in Akron, Ohio, the PeakLife polymer proceeded from the research and development phase to in-market product application in less than two years to prioritize significantly improving the Turanza EV’s wear capabilities. By creating an extensive network of unique bonds between the innovative polymer and reinforcing particles, the tread on tires with PeakLife technology can last longer,2 helping to reduce the need for new tires and easing the mobility ecosystem’s consumption of raw materials. Bridgestone PeakLife technology focuses on improved wear resistance,4 which can help extend tread life, and is engineered to deliver lower levels of rolling resistance4 to help increase vehicle fuel efficiency.
“With the accelerated progress toward an electrified vehicle fleet, we’re thrilled to launch a tire that is designed to help drivers get the best overall experience from their electric vehicles, including ride comfort, all-season driving performance and excellent wear life,” said Riccardo Cichi, President and Chief Sales Officer, Bridgestone Americas. “We are also excited to introduce ENLITEN, which marks a major pivot in how we approach tire technology and design to deliver both exceptional dynamic performance and increased use of renewable and recycled materials.”
Additional key engineering features of the Bridgestone Turanza EV grand touring tire include:
- Maintain Long Mileage Range: The Bridgestone Turanza EV tire is designed to help maintain a long mileage range per charge without sacrificing tread life or premium performance. Bridgestone Turanza EV tires extend energy efficient performance with low rolling resistance made possible by Bridgestone’s ENLITEN tire technology.
- Sustainable Longevity: The new Bridgestone Turanza EV tire delivers an exceptional 50,000-mile limited warranty5 thanks to its next-generation tread compound featuring new PeakLife polymer technology that enhances tread wear to overcome the load and torque challenges that historically lead to premature wear out in EVs.6
- Whisper-Quiet Ride: With QuietTrack technology embedded in the tread design, the Bridgestone Turanza EV tire reduces road noise for a quiet, comfortable ride.
- Wet Road Ready: With wet braking and handling that’s on par with selected leading OE touring tire,7 drivers of electric vehicles with Bridgestone Turanza EV tires can enjoy confident control on wet roads from a tire that also offers excellent tread wear.
Consistent with Bridgestone’s sustainability goals, which include the use of 100% renewable and recycled materials by 2050, the Turanza EV tire incorporates 50% renewable and recycled materials.8 Bridgestone Turanza EV tires are manufactured using synthetic rubber8 associated with recycled plastic, helping keep more used plastics out of landfills and the environment.
The new Turanza EV tire is manufactured at Bridgestone’s passenger car tire production facilities in Wilson, North Carolina, and Monterrey, Mexico, where significant new investments were made to accommodate the use of ENLITEN technology, including new rubber mixing and tire construction tools and technologies.
Bridgestone’s development of the Turanza EV aligns with the Bridgestone E8 Commitment, which consists of eight Bridgestone-like values starting with the letter “E” (Energy, Ecology, Efficiency, Extension, Economy, Emotion, Ease and Empowerment). By developing an electric vehicle replacement tire, Bridgestone is delivering on its “Energy,” “Ecology” and “Ease” commitment.
1 The combination of ENLITEN technology attributes applicable to a specific tire product may vary. Results may vary depending on proper tire and vehicle maintenance, road conditions and driving habits.
2 Based on internal testing. Results may vary by specific tire product and depending on proper tire and vehicle maintenance, road conditions and driving habits.
3 Recycled means material that has been reprocessed from recovered [reclaimed] material by means of a manufacturing process and made into a final product or into a component for incorporation into goods or services. Includes circular-based mass balance materials. Renewable means material that is composed of biomass from a living source and that can be continually replenished. Synthetic rubber is ISCC Plus certified allocated using the mass balance approach.
4 Compared against prior polymer technology based on internal testing. Results may vary depending on specific tire product, proper tire and vehicle maintenance, road conditions and driving habits.
5 Conditions apply. See Bridgestonetire.com/warranty for details.
6 Based on comparative rolling resistance of Bridgestone Turanza EV tires and Bridgestone Turanza QuietTrack tires 235/45R18 size tires. Actual on-road mileage range may vary.
7 Based on comparative wet braking and wet lap time testing of Bridgestone Turanza EV tires (size 255/45R19) and Continental ProContact RX tires (size 255/45R19) on a 2023 Telsa Model Y. Results may vary depending upon proper tire and vehicle maintenance, road conditions and driving habits.
8 20% natural rubber; 18% recycled (circular) synthetic rubber; remaining recycled (circular) carbon black. ISCC-certified circular butadiene rubber, styrene butadiene rubber and carbon black allocated using the ISCC mass balance approach. For more details about ISCC, please go to: https://iscc-system.org.
