The new tyres are made from one-third recycled materials

Continental Tyres recently announced the launch of a new high-performance tyre for the second season of the all-electric Extreme E racing series.
The company has unveiled a complete redesign of the tread compound and carcass of the second-gen CrossContact Extreme E – with its core focus being on using sustainable materials. 
Engineers and materials experts at Continental Tyres have developed the new tyre model to improve both performance and sustainability, placing particular emphasis on utilising a high proportion of sustainable materials. 
The new CrossContact Extreme E is made from approximately one-third recycled and renewable materials. An example of these new innovations is the use of silica obtained from the ashes of rice husks (a waste product from agriculture) used in the production of tyres. 
In addition to reprocessed steel and carbon black, Continental Tyres is using polyester yarn made from recycled polyester PET bottles to produce the tyre carcass – the first time this has ever been done for an Extreme E tyre.
Thanks to the use of plastic bottles, conventional polyester has been fully substituted in the CrossContact Extreme E tyre.
Continental Tyres is supplying 30 tyres to all 10 Extreme E teams – these contain recycled polyester made from approximately 60 reprocessed PET bottles.
Further, the technology will be integrated into the volume production of various Continental Premium Tyres later this year.
Sandra Roslan, who supports the Extreme E racing series at Continental Tyres, is confident that the tyre developers’ efforts will also have an effect on the future of conventional tyres.
“With Extreme E, we test our latest technologies and developments under particularly extreme and unique conditions. These results help us introduce sustainable solutions for our volume production,” Sandra said.
The second-generation CrossContact Extreme E tyre will be used in all five races of the 2022 season and is reportedly optimised for maximum performance in all climate zones and terrain conditions.
The tyre features an all-terrain pattern consisting of big blocks and an off-shoulder design which Continental Tyres says makes it perfectly optimised for hot and soft surfaces like sand and gravel.
It also incorporates a “stone bumper feature” to bump out the stones that occasionally get stuck in the tyre during a race.
“With the wealth of new knowledge gained during the first season, we have been able to enhance the next generation of CrossContact Extreme E and have placed an even greater focus on the use of sustainable and recyclable materials,” said Nels von Schnakenburg, the Technical Manager for Extreme E at Continental Tyres.
Extreme E brings electrically powered vehicles to the most remote corners of the world, in an effort to raise awareness around climate change among motor racing fans.

For more information, visit www.continental-tyres.com.au/car