Michelin pushes sustainable tire limits at Le Mans

LE MANS, France — Michelin Group has long used motorsports to push the envelope on new technology, and that practice continues today with efforts to push the limits of sustainability alongside outright performance.

Case in point: the recent 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, where the race tires Michelin supplied to over half the 62-car field — tires capable of running at speeds of over 200 mph and cornering forces of several G's hours at a time — were built with 30% (dry weather tire) to 45% (wet weather) sustainable materials.

Michelin's presence at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours — where the French tire maker equipped the overall winning entry for the 26th straight year and 32nd time overall in the race's 100-year history — built on its efforts from 2013 to 2021 when it was the designated tire supplier to Formula E.

The founding principles of Formula E emphasized sustainability up and down the supply chain, including the tires, which were designed to be used in all conditions, eliminating the need for purpose-built wet-weather tires, and which used a high percentage of sustainable materials.

At the same time, Michelin used the spotlight that the annual Le Mans 24 Hour race provides to promote progress it's making toward its goal of a 100% sustainable materials tire by 2050. The tire maker created the hashtag #WeRaceForChange to promote its efforts.

In addition to the thousands of race tires it brought to the Le Mans circuit in central France for the June 11-12 endurance classic, the tire maker debuted a prototype race tire whose components are 63% sustainable.

That tire, designed and built for a hydrogen-fueled prototype racer scheduled to take part in the Le Mans race in 2025 or 2026, is being used by that vehicle's backers Green GT for testing purposes. It hasn't as yet been used in competition.

GreenGT is an independent company active in the field of electric-hydrogen technologies, which analyses, designs, develops, carries out and sells studies, products and services applicable to motor sports, the mobility industry and also to infrastructures and regions.

The organizers of the Le Mans race, ACO, and GreenGT are working towards introducing a hydrogen class at the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours in an effort to show that hydrogen could be a clean, zero-carbon alternative to fossil fuels, for racing and on the road.

Coincidentally, Michelin is active in the field of developing hydrogen fuel-cell systems for light vehicles, utility vehicles, trucks and other applications through its Symbio joint venture with Faurecia Group, a French automotive systems supplier, and vehicle maker Stellantis N.V.

Michelin's interest in the potential of fuel cells and hydrogen as an energy source goes back to 2014 when it acquired a "significant" minority ownership stake in Symbio FCell, a Paris-based developer of fuel-cell technology.

For electric vehicles, fuel-cell technology complements battery technology, especially in those cases requiring intense use and greater autonomy.

Michelin did not elaborate on which types of sustainable materials it's using in its race tires or the 63% demonstration tire, but Michelin supplier Scandinavian Enviro Systems A.B. published a statement saying Michelin was using recycled carbon black made from pyrolysis processes it has developed.

"This tire," Michelin said in a prepared statement, "fits perfectly with Michelin's resolve to employ sustainable materials across its range with a group target of using biosourced, recycled or renewable raw materials exclusively for its entire catalog by 2050."

This is the third straight year that the tire maker has rolled out a racing tire concept with higher sustainable materials content. In 2021, Michelin introduced a 46% sustainable materials tire for the H24 project car and last year increased the demo tire's bio-based and recycled content to 53%.

Michelin has participated in 69 of the 90 Le Mans 24 Hour races held over the past 100 years, including the first in 1923. The race was not held 10 times during that timespan, primarily during the 1940s during and after World War II.

Michelin has equipped the overall winning entry 32 times, including the past 26 in a row. Even with 32 victories, Michelin still trails the Dunlop brand's 34 wins at the mid-summer endurance racing classic. Goodyear ranks third at 10 wins.

Goodyear — which supplied race tires to 25 cars at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours — used the race as a technology testbed as well, evaluating its SightLine tire-data monitoring technology under competitive conditions.