When Michelin e.Primacy first came out, there were a lot of hype surrounding the sustainability and eco friendly nature of this product. With its attractive label class of “A” in rolling resistance and also “B” in wet braking, plus the addition of eco-responsibility, consumer are getting great value. However let’s take a deeper look into the fine prints and see what does Michelin actually meant by eco-responsibility.
Claim 1: First CO2-neutral tire at the time of purchase
First CO2-neutral tyre at the time of purchase. Michelin has cut C02 emissions from its industrial sites by 25% since 2010 and aims at their carbon neutrality by 2050. Michelin is engaged in funding projects designed to absorb or avoid C02 emissions and draws upon the carbon credits stemming from these projects up to the level of residual emissions linked to the production of e-Primacy tyres (from extraction of the raw materials to delivery of the tyres to the customer). (Cf. Livelihoods Carbon Fund). Cf. https://www.michelin.com/en/sustainable-development-mobility/environment/
e.Primacy website.
So the big bold claim here centered around a carbon neutral tire but most importantly at the time of purchase. What this implied is that the tires & its raw materials are produced with a net 0 carbon emission. To be clear, Michelin’s production and raw materials are not carbon net zero. The way Michelin achieve that is to fund carbon capture projects and also planting trees to offset the carbon footprint from its tire in this particular case e.Primacy. This was outlined clearly in the statement above. Another competitor would be able to make such claims as well if they purchase enough carbon credits regardless of their production & raw material’s carbon foot print. Hence making it only a marketing “stunt”
Claim 2: Reduce fuel consumption, CO2 emissions
So this claim is fairly straight forward. When the rolling resistance of the tire is low , you need less force to drive the tires hence resulting less fuel burned which also equates to less CO2 emissions. With new improved rolling resistance “A” label which is the highest of its class, the e.Primacy will no doubt help you save fuel & reduce your CO2 emissions. This is particular true if you are driving a combustion engine vehicle. However if you are driving an electric vehicle, you do not emit any CO2 emissions from the car but you do it indirectly from your charging source. One thing for sure is that you will have a much longer range with a lower rolling resistance tire.
Summary
Overall, e.Primacy is still a very excellent tire. Having a best in class performance in rolling resistance among its competitor is something moving in the right direction when it comes to reducing CO2 emission. However the claim of carbon net zero tire is misleading and should be explained in a much detail sense.