Continental reveals new CrossContact tyre for Season 3
The 2023 campaign begins on 11-12 March in NEOM, Saudi Arabia, and in the development of the new tyre Continental placed an emphasis on using an even higher proportion of sustainable materials.
As a result, the new CrossContact Extreme E now consists of around 43 per cent recycled and renewable materials. Among these is silica obtained from the ash of rice husks, a waste material of agriculture.
Alongside processed steel and carbon black, Continental is again integrating polyester yarn from recycled PET plastic bottles into the tyre’s construction.
As well as increasing its use of new, more sustainable solutions, the tyre manufacturer has reduced the overall weight of the CrossContact Extreme E tyre by two kilograms. And that leads to emissions savings in the transportation process.
Continental is a founding partner of Extreme E and exclusive tyre supplier to the championship, which is now in its third season.
Nels von Schnakenburg, Technical Manager for Extreme E at Continental, said: “We have focused even more strongly on the use of sustainable and recyclable materials with this tyre and are extremely well prepared for the challenges of the 2023 season.
“We’ve also made further gains with handling performance and have therefore improved drivability. The performance and robustness of the tyre mean it will be able to withstand the full range of challenges Extreme E can throw at it.”
The third-generation CrossContact Extreme E also employs the ContiRe.Tex technology developed by Continental.
This includes polyester yarn produced without any intermediate chemical steps from used PET bottles that are not recycled elsewhere.
The bottles used for this technology are sourced exclusively from regions which do not have a closed recycling loop.
Continental will supply 30 tyres to each of the ten teams competing in the third season of Extreme E, and each of those tyres will contain polyester from around 60 processed PET bottles. The company currently offers road car drivers three series-produced tyre models with polyester from recycled PET bottles, each in five dimensions: the PremiumContact 6, the EcoContact 6 and the AllSeasonContact all-season tyre.
Together with rubber, fillers like silica are also an essential part of a tyre’s construction. Silica helps to significantly improve characteristics such as grip, rolling resistance and mileage.
In the CrossContact Extreme E, rice husks provide the base material for the sustainably manufactured silica. Rice husks are a waste product of rice production and cannot be used as food or animal feed.
The manufacture of silica is more energy efficient when it is obtained from the ash of rice husks than when conventional materials like quartz sand are used.
The third generation of the CrossContact Extreme E will be used in all five events on the 2023 calendar.
It has been optimized to deliver maximum performance across all climate zones and on all surfaces. The size, diameter and width of the tyre are unchanged at 37 x 12.50 R17 – which means a diameter of 37 inches, width of 12.5 inches and 17-inch wheel rims.
Continental’s tyre sector is pursuing a holistic approach to sustainability across all phases of the tyre value chain.
Continental has set itself the mission of becoming the most progressive tyre company in terms of environmental and social responsibility. For Continental, circular economy solutions represent an important route to achieving its ambitious goal of carbon neutrality throughout its value chain by 2050 at the latest.
You can see the CrossContact Extreme E Season 3 tyre in action as the first X Prix of 2023 gets underway in NEOM, Saudi Arabia, this weekend.
