India: rolling resistance and fuel saving 2016

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Research StudyGathering experts to improve transportation in India

INDIA TRANSPORT PORTALFebruary 2016

IN BRIEF

The Indian population has witnessed a marked transition in the quality of life as a result of increasing economic

growth. As one of the fastest developing economies in the world, Indians’ lifestyle and consumption patterns are changing thanks to technology and affluence. Today, Indians are more aware of the need for sustainable development; they realise that mitigating the environmental consequen-ces of their fuel consumption is the need of the hour. People have adopted various fuel-saving measures in the face of price fluctuations driven by the economy—from driving with the windows open to constant-ly checking the tyre pressure.

INDIA: ROLLING RESISTANCE AND FUEL SAVING

How do the Indians try to save fuel? According to the Shell Fuel economy Fact or Fiction Report, nearly 83 per cent of the Indians want to work towards achieving some measure of fuel economy and a staggering 63 per cent of the people don’t know how to go about getting to that goal.

This study shows that improvement of vehicle’s fuel economy needs to take into account tyre and rolling resistance.

Rolling resistance affects fuel consumption in the same way as natural phenomena like wind, slope and vehicle inertia, which must be overcome in order to move.

Reducing rolling resistance reduces costs and helps preserve the environment. Reducing a vehicle’s fuel consumption means cutting down on fossil fuels and releasing fewer ex-haust gases into the atmosphere while lowering the vehicle’s operating cost per kilome-ter according to Michelin.

Keywords: rolling resistance, fuel saving

ROLLING RESISTANCE AND FUEL SAVING2



Table of contents:I. Overview of Indian automotive Market

II.Rolling Resistance Challenges in India- Rolling Resistance in a nutshell- How it works- Low rolling resistance contributes to fuel economy- Indirect effects of rolling resistance on CO2 emissions

III. A view of the World tyre regulation- The aim of regulation- European Union- USA

IV. A useful focus on Heavy Duty Vehicle- Global Truck Tyre Market- Heavy Duty Vehicles in USA

V. Requirements for India- Regulation in India- Tyre labelling- Heavy Duty Vehicle- Other ways to achieve fuel economy- Impact of road texture on rolling resis-tance and fuel economy in India

Conclusion




I. Overview of Indian automotive Market

India is currently the seventh largest producer in the world with an annual production in 2015 of 23.37 Million vehicles, following a growth of 8.68 % over the last year. An average of 3.57 Million are exported.

The automotive industry accounts for 45% of the country’s manufacturing gross domestic product (GDP), 7.1% of the country’s GDP and employs about 19 Million people both directly and indirectly.The Indian automobile market is estimated to become the third largest in the world by 2016 and will account for more than 5% of global vehicle sales.

India is the largest manufacturer of three-whee-lers (949 000 in 2014-15) and the eighth lar-gest commercial vehicle (697 000 in 2014-15). Two-wheeler production reached 18.5 m units in the same year. India is the largest tractor manufacturing country (around 1/3 of global output) with a total domestic sales of 664 000 units in 2013-14.




II. Challenges of Rolling Resistance in India

-Rolling Resistance in a nutshell

Rolling resistance is defined as the energy consumed by a tyre per unit distance covered. It is also called rolling friction or rolling drag. It is one of the forces that act to oppose the motion of a driver. The main reason for this is when the tyres are in motion and touch the surface it changes shape and cause deforma-tion of the tyre.

“According to Yokohama Tire, approximately 90% of this resistance comes from

the tyres.”

Source: Maxxis

Source: Globalyokohamatire.net




- Rolling Resistance: How it works

The rolling resistance, traction, and general lifespan of a tyre is affected by the material, the components, the design and the structure of the tyre. Research suggests 40% of a tyre’s rolling resistance is determined by its treads, 40% by its sidewalls and belts, and the remai-ning 20% by the bead area.When the tread is distorted by compression, the downward weight of the vehicle acting against the solid immovable road – energy is consumed. Well-supported tread locks mi-nimise distortion. Therefore, rib-type treads that restrict the movement of tread blocks have lower rolling resistance than lug treads. Tyre manufacturers are engineering tyres with tightly packed tread lugs which reduces move-ment and ‘squirming’. They are also developing closed shoulder designs with a tighter tread pattern.

- A low rolling resistance contributes to fuel saving

The rolling resistance of a vehicle is an impor-tant factor in determining its fuel efficiency.According to David SHAW (Chief Executive at Tire Industry Research): “a motorist can expect to get a maximum fuel-economy benefit of around 7% when replacing four bad tyres with four good ones”.Tire Research Industry shows that a motorist can expect to get a maximum fuel-economy benefit of around 7% when replacing four bad tyres with four good ones. Replacing a single tyre will yield a quarter of that benefit.Most vehicles drive with under-inflated tyres. That 7% saving due to high-tech tyres is more than wiped out by the 8% or more fuel economy loss when driving on under-inflated tyres. In Europe studies show that two-thirds of car tyres are under-inflated. The median under-inflation is 0.2 bar (3 psi) below nominal.

“A motorist can expect to get a maximum

fuel-economy benefit of around 7% when replacing

four bad tyres with four good ones.”

-David ShawChief Executive at

Tire Industry Research




Rolling resistance affects the fuel efficiency of all types of vehicles from bicycles to large trucks and everything in between. It wastes fuel and contributes to environmental pollu-tion. Research suggests a tyre can consume up to five times its cost in wasted fuel with large modern trucks losing up to 30-33% of to-tal fuel cost to rolling resistance. More speci-fically, if a tyre costs US0.04 per mile, the fuel cost of rolling resistance could be anywhere from US$0.14 to US$0.28. A 10% reduction in rolling resistance can generate fuel savings worth 3-4%.

For passenger cars, a 10% change in rolling resistance can contribute 1 to 2% in fuel economy; for heavy trucks, a 10% change in rolling resistance can contribute 2 to 3% to fuel economy. The International Energy Agency has recommended that legislation to set a maximum rolling resistance of tyres is a good step towards reducing fuel consumption in a country.

“Once vehicles have been sold, replacing tyres with

low rolling resistance tyres is one key way to improve

fuel economy of any vehicle.”

-Randy ClarkVice-President, Norms & Regulations,

Michelin Group

Tyre contribution to Fuel Consumption by usage segments:

Source: Michelin Group Source: Plateform for Aerodynamic Road Transport




Gerald Potts (CEO/CTO TMSI LLC, a MESNAC Company) brings shades to fuel economy, these figures have to be put in the right perspective.“Some popular and technical articles mislead the reader by stating that hysteresis of rolling tires consumes 30% of the energy input to the tire, thus making the reader think he can increase his fuel economy by 15% if he can reduce the rolling resistance by ½.” he said. At the 2012 Tire Technology Conference in Colo-gne, Germany, he explained that calculates the horsepower absorbed by both passenger and truck tires and it is surprisingly low for passen-ger tyres. In this way, rolling resistance issue is more important for trucks than passenger vehicles.The percentage of fuel consumed by a passen-ger tire in both city and highway driving is only 4 and 7%, respectively. So decreasing rolling re-sistance by ½ would only improve fuel economy by 2 – 3.5 %.

- Indirect effects of rolling resistance on CO2 emissions

Given climate and environmental concerns and the impact of high fuel consumption on global pollution, technologies that improve fuel effi-ciency are constantly in demand. In a country with an explosive growth of car users, low rolling resistance should gradually becoming a standard for tyres, and will become a regulatory requirement that will in turn put pressure on manufacturers, retails and custo-mers alike to hasten improvements and adop-tion.




III. A view of the World tyre regulation

- The aim of regulation

The overall goal of all the regulation is to incen-tivize manufacturers to design their engines and vehicles to operate efficiently across the range of operating conditions that are typically encountered on the road (i.e., accelerating, decelerating, cruising, and idling).Many countries around the world, including Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and various European countries, now regulate tyre production, setting minimum standards for rolling resistance and wet traction. Others such as Morocco, South Africa, India and China are considering setting similar standards

- European Union

The European Union (EU) is a world leader in setting global standards. The emission require-ments set by the EU forced tyre manufacturers to develop low rolling resistance tyres. A focus on tyre labelling helped improve transparency and ensured customers could usefully compare different types of tyres. A computer simulation tool, VECTO (Vehicle Energy Consumption Cal-culation Tool) has been developed to measure CO2 emissions from new vehicles. The trend is gradually spreading outside the region.

The United-Kingdom alone estimates that the phase 1 rolling resistance maximum thresholds have saved somewhere between 1 and 3% in fuel consumption over the fleet of vehicles across the country. The EU also plans a more stringent phase 2 for rolling resistance values.

“The European Union began maximum rolling resistance

for tyres with a calendar phase in that started in

November 2012.”


Michelin Group




The European Parliament set minimum require-ments (Regulation 1) for the rolling resistance of tyres in July 2009. Technology has made it possible to improve upon these requirements, with advan-ces in materials and design making stronger yet more flexible tyres with better traction a reality. By 2011, it had become apparent that there was po-tential for even greater energy savings which would further ‘reduce the environmental impact of road transport’.

A certain number of tyres were put through rigorous laboratory testing and then labelled based on ‘fuel efficiency class, the external rolling noise class and measured value, and the wet grip class of tyres’. The fuel efficiency class was based on each tyre’s Rolling Resistance Coefficient’ and graded accor-dingly A to G. The grading was set according to UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) Regulation No 117. A network of volunteer test laboratories was set up to create an ‘Expert Group’ consisting of tyre manufacturers and tech-nical services providers. Based on the results of these tests, Regulations 2 and 3 of the EPC’s directive were passed in 2011. This means that the EPC’s regulations are now consistent with those set by EC Regulation No. 661/2009 (the General Safety Regulation, or GSR).The EPC concluded that consumers would need ‘harmonised’ information to be able to compare various types of fuel-efficient tyres.

Standardised tyre labelling is required across the EU based on the European Tyre Labeling Regula-tion (EC/1222/2009). Consumers must be provi-ded with information on the tyre’s fuel efficiency, wet grip and external rolling noise’. The regulations are uniform across the EU to ensure a level playing field, and will ‘increase the safety and the environ-mental and economic efficiency of road transport by promoting fuel-efficient and safe tyres with low noise levels’.




Impact of regulation on tyre manufacturers

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are responding to this by putting pressure on tyre manufacturers to develop high performance tyres and help ‘attain fuel economy and emissions goals’.

This has transformed the industry, as manufacturers are increasing their investment in new technologies for vehicle design, engineering and technology. It has also led to its growth as manu-facturers invest in cutting-edge technologies and seek out alternative, sustainable sources of raw material to compete in a crowded market where differentiation is critical.

The development of hybrid and electric vehicles is also affecting demand for ‘alternative’ design and materials. Tyre manufacturers are investing in developing ‘harder wearing’ nanomaterials and sustainable raw materials to reduce dependence on natural rubber and oil products. They are also developing ‘intelligent’ and non-pneumatic tyres.

- USAThe United States are in the process of setting up a ‘mandatory tyre registration system’. If passed, Senate Bill 1741 will create minimum performance standards for tyre fuel efficiency and wet traction. Only tyres that meet these minimum standards will then retail in the USA.

The USA already have a ‘Tyre Fuel Efficiency Consumer Infor-mation Program’, which provides information but does not set minimum requirements for the type of tyres that may be sold in the USA, and that consumers might legally buy.

Experts believe that minimum quality requirements setting thresholds for rolling resistance and wet traction must be set to enable customers to compare tyres.

Electric cars will increase the importance of tyre losses since engine losses will become far less than what we see with to-day’s internal combustion engines.

According to Gerald Potts: “Europe leads the way with tyre labe-ling forcing the issue, while the USA is in a follow-on role even though the problem is well recognised but remains a political football amongst the legislators.”




IV. A useful focus on Heavy Duty Vehicle

- Global truck tyre market

Demand in the global truck tyre market is ex-pected to average 3.3% per year for the next ten years, to 2025. By year end, 477 million truck tyres will have been sold during 2015, a figure that is expected to reach 658 million by the end of 2025. The broad consensus is that truck and Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HCV) fleets can save money by making adjustments to their vehicles that make sense given the geography and climate of their regions, the quality of their road networks and the type of strain the vehicle is likely to expe-rience.

Governments around the world are reacting to the effects of climate and environmental change in-troducing a host of regulations to control and re-duce pollution and the sources of pollution. New environmental agreements, laws, and regulations are being introduced in various parts of the world as the impact of pollution becomes increasingly apparent. As vehicles - especially HCV - are a major pollutant over the world, and tyres play a significant role in the extent of that pollution, the focus is on improving their efficiency. Tyre produc-tion, use, and demand are all increasingly subject to governmental scrutiny and regulation.

Research by Bridgestone suggests that if a ty-re’s rolling resistance accounts for 25-33% of a truck’s fuel consumption, a 5% improvement in rolling resistance would generate fuel economies of 1.3%-1.7%. Direct comparisons between spe-cific tyres are difficult and depend on the context such as driving conditions, weight, speeds, speci-fications, etc.

“Some states are moving to require that replacement tires have rolling resistance values as low as the OEM

tire that they replace.” “Re-placement tires have his-torically had RR values 25 – 30% higher than their

OEM counterparts, thus si-gnificantly increasing fuel

consumption. Such legisla-tion would be important in improving fuel economy of

the entire vehicle fleet.”

-Gerald PottsCEO/CTO TMSI LLC,




Global Truck Tire sales by region to 2025, million units

With the advent of aerodynamic truck design, tyre rolling resistance accounts for a greater propor-tion of fuel consumption. It has risen from approx. 15-20% of total fuel consumption historically, to more than 30% today according to Bridgestone-truck tires. This figure is expected to further rise as truck design and engine technology continues to improve.

- Heavy Duty Vehicles in USA

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Security Asso-ciation (NHTSA) are working together to develop efficiency and emission standards for medium and heavy duty vehicles. Their aim is to reduce emissions, conserve oil, and lower fuel costs.

In the US, truck companies are recognizing that low rolling resistance tyres can have a significant impact on fuel efficiencies with benefits gradually offsetting the challenges accroding to Trucking Efficiency (an initiative set up by the North Ame-rican Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) ). Studies conducted by the NACFE show significant savings for truck fleet operators following a switch from regular to low rolling resistance (LRR), and from LRR to super-LRR tyres. A fleet operating 80,000lb tractor-trailers and racking up 120,000 miles annually could save up to as much as US$7,396 per truck per year by switching to from standard to LRR tyres; alternatively that could be US$2,680 by switching from LRR to super-LRR tyres (savings here are based on US fuel costs of US$2.80 per gallon).

The latter savings are somewhat offset by the high cost of super-LRR tyres which are manu-factured using ‘multiple and more costly rubber blends to achieve super-low resistance levels’.




V. Requirements for India

- Regulation in India

India’s transport sector accounted for 7.5% of all natural greenhouse emissions in 2007 (compa-red to a world average of 23%). Based on current trends, this is expected to rise tenfold by 2050. India needs to urgently implement ‘vehicle ef-ficiency improvements’ and invest in advanced tyre materials and design in order to improve tyre technology. The government hopes that setting fuel consumption standards and introducing la-belling requirements will encourage manufacture-rs to do just that. It is hoped that these measures will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1.5-2% in India.

There are concerns that the minimum require-ments being imposed by the EU will significantly increase production costs. This will have a major impact both on manufacturers and consumers, especially in developing countries. India, though, is ploughing ahead with plans to introduce rolling resistance requirements in line with the EPC’s Regulations.

Overall, the impact of global tyre regulations on India’s market will be painful in the short-term but very positive in the long-term. They will have a knock-on effect in India by driving improvements in tyre efficiency.

These will be driven not just by regulatory stan-dards but also competitive pressure. The high standards of production required will increase costs, discourage new entrants, and they will raise the overall standard of the industry. Better-informed consumers will demand better, more fuel-efficient, choices and will push up the share of environmentally friendly green tyres.

“The entire tyre industry must become accusto-

med to measuring rolling resistance and perhaps also wet grip on all their

products.”

-Randy ClarkVice-President, Norms & Regula-

tions, Michelin Group




The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has asked the subcommittee TED7 to study rolling resistance thresholds for India. It would seem logical that India should proceed with voluntary thresholds for pas-senger car tyre rolling resistance which should later become mandatory. Since the tyres in India are on average smaller in diameter than those of Europe, the rolling resistance values may not be the same. Studies are needed to help determine what should be the threshold values for India. The tyre industry is cooperating with BIS TED7 in their deliberations.

Thus, the Bureau of Indian Standards is in discussion to create a maximum cap on tyre rolling resistance for India, starting with passenger car tyres but no-thing certain for Truck Tyres.

- Tyre Labelling in India

Prior to discussions of tyre labelling, there are many systems and procedures to put in place. Laborato-ries must be calibrated and aligned to assure that readings can be compared. Accroding to Randy Clark:“The entire tyre industry must become accus-tomed to measuring rolling resistance and perhaps also wet grip on all their products.” In Country com-pliance mechanisms must be assured; what good is a labelling scheme if the values are not confirmed? All this will take place as the development of thres-holds progresses. And then, discussions for labelling could begin.There is a strong need to spread awareness regar-ding technological choices among Indian tyre dea-lerships and Indian consumers. One advantage for rolling resistance thresholds is that consumers need not be educated and success does not depend on consumer behavior. However consumer awareness is key for labelling. Even in Europe, surveys show that not all consumers take the rolling resistance grades into account when they make purchasing decisions. And if the consumers ignore the labels/ grades, then the labeling will have no effect on reducing fuel consumption in India.

“One advantage for rol-ling resistance thresholds is that consumers need

not be educated and suc-cess does not depend on

consumer behavior.”

-Randy ClarkVice-President, Norms & Regula-

tions, Michelin Group




- Heavy Duty Vehicle in India

India has some catching up to do. It has begun to introduce function, safety, and performance standards for cars but not for Heavy Duty Vehi-cles (HDVs). A further 70% of all HDVs in India have high rolling resistance bias tyres. The range of rolling resistance across these HDVs is 30%. Studies suggest that imposing rolling resistance thresholds on Heavy Commerciel Vehicles could yield fuel savings of 864 million liters and reduce CO2 emissions by 2.3 million tonnes per year. Re-quiring rolling resistance thresholds to be inclu-ded in labelling would also help customers make more informed decisions.

Speaking to India Transport Portal in 2012, Mr. Anders Grundströmer, Managing Director, Scania Commercial Vehicles India explained: “The Heavy duty truck business will have a growth of more than 8% by year 2020. With the infrastructure spend targeted to double to USD 1 Trillion by 2017.”

In order to remain globally relevant India would need to implement its own fuel efficiency require-ments and bring tyre manufacturing standards in line with global competitors. Fuel efficiency norms could be used to categorise vehicles. Simulation tools could be used to measure CO2 emissions, fuel efficiency, aerodynamic drag, and rolling resistance. According to The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT): “India needs to develop comprehensive ‘technical and policy analyses’ to define a long-term plan for improving fuel savings “across the entire range of technolo-gies available for HDV fuel savings”. This will not be possible without the full commitment of all stakeholders, including governments, regulators, OEMs, tyre manufacturers and most importantly the customers.

“The Heavy duty truck business will have a growth

of more than 8% by year 2020.

With the infrastructure spend targeted to double to

USD 1 Trillion by 2017.”

-Anders GrundströmerManaging Director, Scania Commercial




- Other ways to achieve fuel economy

Accroding to Gerald POTTS: “As for Rolling Resis-tance being a “key element” in fuel consumption, there are many other sources that can bear more fruit, for instance simply stopping the engine at stop lights can save 17% of fuel in the city and changing to an electric motor as prime mover can save 20%.” Hybrid cars use both of these facts to dramatically improve fuel economy in city driving. That does not relieve the tire companies from mi-nimizing rolling resistance, but it does show that the Return on Investment for reducing tire rolling resistance is quite limited and the bulk of effort could be better spent in other areas in trying to double fuel economy by 2025. The potential for doubling fuel economy does not lie in tires. A sta-tistically significant, but small, improvement is all that can be expected from tires.

- Impact of road texture on rolling resistan-ce and fuel economy in India

The ‘true’ relationship between fuel economy (rolling resistance) and road or pavement texture has proven hard to quantify. However, research shows that the smoother the road texture, the smoother the ride and therefore the better the fuel efficiency. The less erratic the ride (bumps and springs), the less energy will be consumed by ‘shock absorbers, suspensions, and tyres’, and the less fuel will be used.

How smooth the road or pavement texture ‘needs’ to be must, however, be weighed against the importance of ensuring safe driving conditions, which will always require some friction. Other than that, well maintained smooth road networks will extend the life of road pavements, require less maintenance and by providing a ‘smoother’ ride will improve fuel efficiency for all drivers.

Source: cenews.com




Tyres on vehicles at these speeds play a more significant role in fuel economy vs stop/go traffic or vs ultra-high speeds (120 km/h plus) as in Eu-rope or USA. Aside from fuel consumption, better road infrastructure will slow tyre wear and reduce damages to allow tyres to achieve their ultimate mileages, lowering costs to consumers and end users.

Conclusion:

The Indian Automotive Industry is harmonising both Safety & Emission regulations with Inter-national Standards for sustained growth of the Industry for combating the environment and become a global export hub.

As a reminder, in India, the vehicle population is growing at rate of over 5% per annum and today the vehicle population is approximately 40 mil-lion. The vehicle mix is also unique to India in that there is a very high proportion of two wheelers (76%) according to the Automotive Research As-sociation of India (ARAI).

Ambient air pollution has been identified as the fifth biggest cause of mortality in India. Fine particulates matter from diesel engine ex-haust has been linked with increasing risk of lung cancer according to World Health Organisation. Growing air pollution has made the capital city of Delhi rate among the top polluted cities of the world.Transport sector is one of the prime contributors to air pollution in cities.

All that remains to expect is that the work of BIS will result in an appropriate regulation to promote a better low resistance of tyres and reduce fuel consumption of Indian vehicles. It’s both an eco-nomic and a climate issue for the country.

“Focusing on fuel consump-tion, the improvement in

infrastructure will allow for consistent vehicle speeds in a range of 40 – 80 km/h”


Michelin Group




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India: rolling resistance and fuel saving 2016

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Transcript of India: rolling resistance and fuel saving 2016