Home Mobility 6 months with Michelin e.Primacy, an environmentally responsible and efficient tire 02 October 2024 18

Reducing environmental impact has long been one of Michelin’s priorities. I think that back in 1992 the company released its first “green” tire, characterized by very low rolling resistance (obviously by the standards of those years), aimed at reducing consumption and emissions of the cars on which it was installed. And if this seems completely normal to us today, we must think that more than twenty years ago, attention to the issue of emissions and environmental impact was exponential.

Well we could say that Michelin e.Primacy is an evolution of this concept. summer tire which provides class A rolling resistancethat is, the minimum possible on the scale currently available in terms of energy efficiency. At the same time, such low rolling resistance did not lead to a deterioration in another very important aspect, such as wet grip. In the second category, e.Primacy is a Class B tire that combines Class A rolling resistance and grip, which is found in only 1% of tires on the market. And sorry if it’s not much!

Thanks to this lower rolling resistance, Michelin technicians calculate that cars can reduce fuel consumption by approximately 0.21 liters per 100 km, with a saving of about 80 euros on fuel, taking into account the average service life of a set of these tires.

But not only that, because lower consumption also means reduced CO2 emissions, and that is why in our name we defined this tire as environmentally responsible. The emissions reduction was calculated as a reduction in CO2 emissions of 174 kg over the life of the tire set. Michelin developed e.Primacy with electric cars. Its rolling resistance characteristics improve the energy efficiency of the electric vehicle, thereby increasing its autonomy by approximately 7%almost 30 km of increased mileage for a car with a range of 400 km.

We installed a set of Michelin ePrimacy tires in size 205-60-16 on a Kia Niro Hybrid and we will use them as summer tires for 6 months. During these 6 months, we will measure tread wear and monitor the vehicle’s fuel consumption. Therefore, from month to month we will update this article with the data collected and any reports regarding the performance of the tires in terms of noise, grip and specific events that can lead to more or less deterioration.

UPDATE 1 – 06/20/2024

The tires were installed on May 18th, so we can give you an update after the first month of use. First of all, a few words about the driving experience after installing ePrimacy; The first thing that catches your eye, or rather your ear, is their silence. In some cases, the noise caused by rolling is truly unnoticeable, to the point that when mounted on a hybrid vehicle, when it is driven by the electric motor, it appears as if it is traveling suspended in the air. Even about the clutch I have nothing to report at the moment, in these first weeks of use I was caught in heavy rain several times and I never had the feeling of losing grip, even when cornering at quite high speeds. This month I’ve used the car mainly for commuting home and to work, driving a total of about 2000 km with a fairly balanced mix of city, country and motorway driving.

• The km was covered from 18.05 to 20.06.: 1967
• Average gasoline consumption: 25.9 km/l
• Tread wear: Asx -0.14 mm / Adx -0.15 mm / Psx -0.07 mm / Pdx -0.01 mm (6 mm – new tire)
• Pressure detected: 2.4 bar
• Other reports: nobody

At the end of this first month, I rebooted the on-board computer again in order to have accurate data on the kilometers traveled and, above all, the average consumption of 30 days over 30 days. After six months of use, by taking a weighted average, we will know the overall average consumption in the total kilometers traveled.

UPDATE 2 – 07/21/2024

• The km was covered from 20.06 to 21.07.: 1084
• Average gasoline consumption: 26.9 km/l
• Tread wear: Asx -0.18 mm / Adx -0.20 mm / Psx -0.13 mm / Pdx -0.12 mm (6 mm – new tire)
• Pressure detected: 2.4 bar
• Other reports: nobody

For the second month, with less mileage, I had the car on test and therefore the car was often stopped, but we still reached 1000 km. The incredible silence is confirmed by the fact that in some areas the electric car almost seems to float on the asphalt. Traction, tested during several very strong summer storms, also proved to be good.

UPDATE 3 – 08/24/2024

• The km was covered from 21.07 to 24.08.: 1833
• Average gasoline consumption: 23.3 km/l
• Tread wear: Asx -0.43 mm / Adx -0.45 mm / Psx -0.38 mm / Pdx -0.37 mm (6 mm – new tire)
• Pressure detected: 2.4 bar
• Other reports: Roof box installed

Third month. I waited a few more days to fit my entire vacation into a month. Approximately 800 km round trip and intermediate trips with a box installed on the roof, a loaded car and, as a result, deterioration in aerodynamics and fuel consumption. But this difference is mainly due to these factors, as well as the large number of kilometers traveled on the motorway at above-average speeds. The tires continue to demonstrate their good grip even on very slippery roads, such as mountain passes.

UPDATE 4 – 09/29/2024

• The km was covered from 24.08 to 29.09.: 1113
• Average gasoline consumption: 25.7 km/l
• Tread wear: Asx -0.58 mm / Adx -0.61 mm / Psx -0.56 mm / Pdx -0.55 mm (6 mm – new tire)
• Pressure detected: 2.3 bar
• Other reports: Roof box installed

Fourth month. Essentially, we’re back to the routine of home and work, so mileage is back to normal monthly averages. The weather is nice and warm for most of the month, so the tires are definitely under stress in terms of tread wear, just like in August. Thanks to a couple of weekends away from home, the roof rack remained installed this month, but, as you can see, this did not significantly affect the consumption, also because in fact I drove quite a few km, but not a lot on the motorway, the situation , in which a car dressed up in this way consumes more.