Fuel-Efficiency Ratings for Tires Proposed

September 9, 2008 -- Congress has ordered the implementation by the end of 2009 of a national consumer information program whose goal will be to produce ratings on passenger tire fuel-efficiency, although regulations will not require tires to be labeled with the ratings.

Tires affect vehicle fuel economy through their rolling resistance. As a tire rolls under the weight of a vehicle, its shape changes repeatedly, causing loss of energy in the form of heat, which in turn causes the vehicle to use more fuel to maintain speed. Some of the key variables in a tire’s rolling resistance are its tread design and composition, inflation pressure, and level of maintenance.

In 2003 the Transportation Research Board said in its report Tires and Passenger Vehicle Fuel Economy that reducing tire rolling resistance by an average of 10 percent could decrease U.S. passenger vehicle gasoline consumption by 1 percent to 2 percent. It concluded that a10 percent reduction in rolling resistance was both technically and economically feasible and that the resulting increase in fuel economy would save the United States between 1 billion and 2 billion gallons of gas per year. The fuel savings would be equivalent to taking 2 million to 4 million vehicles off the road.

• Tires and Passenger Vehicle Fuel Economy: Informing Consumers, Improving Performance--Special Report 286

• U.S. Department of Energy
• California State Fuel-Efficient Tire Report 2003