Conti EcoRegional – New Truck Tire Line Cuts Mileage Costs and Reduces CO2 Emissions

• Tires make tangible contribution to climate protection
• Innovative tread and new rubber compound for improved rolling resistance with maximum efficiency and mileage
• Now available in five core sizes for steering and drive axles, for regional transport and highway use

Hanover, September 2020. Reduced fuel consumption and improved mileage are the special strengths of Continental’s new truck tire line. The Conti EcoRegional family enables fleet operators to significantly increase the efficiency of their vehicles in regional transport. The Conti EcoRegional HS3 and HD3 are the best solution for reducing CO2 emissions thanks to a new manufacturing process in combination with an innovative tread design for the steering axle and a rubber compound that is optimized for rolling resistance for the drive axle. Moreover, no sacrifices have been made in terms of the other significant tire properties such as mileage, robustness and traction. The Continental developers have been particularly successful in balancing the trade-off between mileage on the one hand, and rolling resistance and fuel efficiency on the other.

The Conti EcoRegional HS3, which was produced using the new Conti Diamond Technique production process, features an optimized tread surface pattern in the ground contact area with a modified tread groove geometry, reduced sipe width, and W-tread groove technology for particularly even abrasion. Together with a highly stable configuration of the circumferential longitudinal tread grooves, this enables greater mileage while also reducing fuel consumption. The use of sipes in the newly designed tread ribs provides additional grip edges that are important for the traction characteristics. The Conti EcoRegional HD3 runs with the tried-and-tested tread concept of the Conti Hybrid Gen 3 line, but uses a new, innovative tread compound in the form of Conti InterLock Technology. It enables an unprecedented level of low rolling resistance with the same mileage, especially in regional and highway applications.

The design of the tread with “cap” (responsible for adhesion, abrasion resistance, and directional stability) and “base” (rolling resistance and damping) allows the individual zones to be optimized for specific tasks, thereby helping to resolve the trade-off. In both products, Conti EcoRegional HS3 and HD3, base compounds optimized for rolling resistance are used. In addition, rubber compounds optimized for rolling resistance are used in the casing.

With the introduction of the Conti EcoRegional Line, Continental is presenting a product that is tailored to the new emissions regulations for truck manufacturers. The vehicle energy consumption calculation tool (VECTO), which was introduced by the European Commission, is intended to ensure that the ambitious European targets for CO2 reduction are met. In order to meet the objectives of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, the European Commission adopted the first carbon dioxide emissions regulation for newly registered heavy commercial vehicles (EU Regulation 2019/1242) in 2019. This calls for a reduction in the average CO2 emissions for new heavy commercial vehicles by 15 percent by 2025 or 30 percent by 2030, compared in each case to the reference year July 2019 to June 2020. This regulation currently applies to 4x2 and 6x2 trucks with a permissible gross vehicle weight of more than 16 metric tons, with a future expansion currently being discussed by the European Commission.

Continental manufactures the Conti EcoRegional product line in the following dimensions, whereby dimensions 295/80 R 22.5, 315/70 R 22.5 and 385/65 R 22.5 are now offered with the highest-permissible load index as standard: