Continental UltraContact – durability in rubber

Hanover, January 2022. With the new UltraContact, a summer tire for fleets and end customers, Continental is taking to the trends of the changing mobile society. What they have in common is the call for more sustainability, including in tires. This approach is not only resource-saving, but also very cost-effective – because a tire that combines long service life and robust design also saves on purchase costs.

The experts at Continental know that younger drivers today, particularly those 18-25, want personal mobility just as much as older people. However, the younger generation’s focus is more on personal mobility than on car ownership as such. This means there’s more demand for car sharing and rental cars. The vehicles will spend much more time on the road – in urban areas and long distance traffic. This means their tires must have a long service life and be extremely robust. According to surveys, the demand for the greatest possible safety is still the most important criterion in questions about tire characteristics.

Another equally important trend is rapidly increasing electric mobility. In 2019, the number of electric vehicles sold worldwide topped two million for the first time. Experts expect approximately 14 million of these vehicles to be sold annually by 2025. Vehicle manufacturers are responding with a large number of new models. By 2030, global new registrations of cars with electric drives are expected to reach 25 million a year (Statista.com). Vehicles like these are normally equipped with quiet tires, as rolling noise is much more noticeable than in cars with combustion engines.

With the new UltraContact, a summer tire is now available with long service life, robustness and low driving noise tailored to the needs of fleet operators and end users, and also well suited to electric vehicles. This is also shown by the classifications on the EU tire label. It is on the highest level for wet braking distance with a grade of “A,” and ranks second out of five in rolling resistance with a grade of “B.” For noise emission, it is classified “A” or “B.”

The new tire is primarily intended for markets where seasonal tires are not the norm. It will be available from spring 2022. There are already 100 items in the product range this year, with more to come next year. The UltraContact is produced for rims between 14 and 20 inches, in widths between 155 and 245 millimeters, with cross sections between 80 and 40 percent. Depending on the dimension, the approvals are between 190 and 300 km/h. Various tires are available with increased load capacity.