Tires and Passenger Vehicle Fuel Economy Informing Consumers, Improving Performance -- Special Report 286 (2006) / Chapter Skim
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5 National Consumer Savings and Costs
5 National Consumer Savings and Costs
Pages 105-122
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From page 105... ...
The approach taken in this chapter, therefore, is to approximate the savings and costs to consumers if the average rolling resistance of replacement tires used on passenger vehicles were to decline by a given amount. In particular, consideration is given to what would happen to consumer expenditures on motor fuel and tires if the average rolling resistance of replacement tires in the fleet were reduced by 10 percent.
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From page 106... ...
In contrast, if the reduction is brought about by the sale of more tires that have reduced wear life, consumers may end up spending more on tires because of the need to replace them more often. Given the many possible ways to reduce average rolling resistance, the approach taken in this chapter is to present two plausible scenarios that illustrate the potential for impacts on tire expenditures.
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From page 107... ...
In other contexts, however, the timing of outlays is relevant, especially in considering the response of individual consumers to information on tire energy performance. CONSUMER FUEL SAVINGS Chapter 3 suggests that a 10 percent reduction in average rolling resistance would translate to a 1 to 2 percent reduction in passenger vehicle fuel consumption per mile.
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From page 108... ...
5Brief consideration was given in Chapter 3 to a consumer response to increases in vehicle fuel economy known as the "rebound effect." By effectively lowering the fuel cost of driving, an improve ment in vehicle fuel economy may cause motorists to drive more, which would offset some of the total fuel savings that are anticipated from the fuel economy improvement. Studies of this con sumer response suggest that about 10 percent of the expected fuel savings may be offset (Small and Van Dender 2005)
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From page 109... ...
This is followed by an examination of the effects on average wear life if consumers achieve the reduced rolling resistance by choosing tires built with thinner treads. Price Effects The tires in the combined Ecos Consulting and RMA data have a wide range of selling prices,6 with some lower than $50 and others exceeding $300.
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From page 110... ...
Table 5-1 examines average tire prices for groups of tires having the following common rim diameters and speed ratings: 14-inch S and T, 15-inch S and T, 16-inch S and T, and 16-inch H and V Each of these four groups contains at least 15 tires.
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From page 111... ...
The results left a substantial proportion of the variation in tire prices unexplained by the tire characteristics. In sum, the results from empirical data do not indicate that consumers will necessarily pay more for replacement tires having lower rolling resistance.
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From page 112... ...
If consumers were to purchase more tires with less tread as the main way to achieve lower rolling resistance, they would likely experience shorter wear life and need to replace their tires more often. Perhaps the simplest way to approximate the effects of shorter wear life on tire replacement expenditures is to use the figures in Chapter 2 indicating that about 200 million replacement tires are shipped in a year
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From page 113... ...
suggests that a motorist can expect to purchase a replacement tire an average of every 0.88 year, or a complete set of four tires about every 3.5 years (4 × 0.88 = 3.52) .7 If reductions in rolling resistance are brought about by consumers purchasing tires with thinner tread, the frequency of tire purchases would increase by an amount commensurate with the reduction in tire wear life.
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From page 114... ...
It is improbable that tire manufacturers interested in maintaining customers would sacrifice wear life to any major degree. In any event, as pointed out earlier, achieving a lower RRC only by reducing tread thickness may not lead to significantly lower rolling resistance on the average over a tire's lifetime.
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From page 115... ...
The thinner-tread tire will have lower average rolling resistance; however, it will also require replacement 20 percent sooner -- not an attractive option from the perspective of consumer tire expenditures or controlling scrap tire populations. These examples illustrate why reducing rolling resistance by designing tires with less tread depth would have both limited effects on fuel consumption and an undesirable response from motorists -- and thus why such an approach would not likely be pursued generally.
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From page 116... ...
In the early 1990s, researchers found that applying organosilane coupling agents to silica during mixing resulted in more uniform filler dispersion and a consequent reduction in rolling resistance. In such applications to achieve lower rolling resistance, the silicasilane usually replaces a portion-seldom more than one-third -- of the carbon black in the tread compound.
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From page 117... ...
This scenario-admittedly simplified -- provides an order-of-magnitude estimate of the effects on tire production costs that would be passed along to consumers in the prices paid for replacement tires possessing lower rolling resistance. Market prices for carbon black and silica vary with supply and demand factors, including energy and transportation costs (Crump 2000)
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From page 118... ...
. While the added processing time, emissions mitigation, and equipment maintenance may not require large-scale plant investments, they will introduce additional production costs beyond the tread material expenses alone.
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From page 119... ...
Hence, if average tire life is shortened by as little as 5 percent, all or a significant portion of the annual fuel savings associated with lower rolling resistance would be offset. OVERALL EFFECT ON CONSUMER EXPENDITURES The time that might be required to achieve a 10 percent reduction in the average rolling resistance of replacement tires is not considered here because it would depend on the specific means of achieving the reduction.
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From page 120... ...
This suggests that such a shift in consumer purchases would not be accompanied by higher average tire prices and tire expenditures as long as wear resistance does not suffer. A possible concern is that consumers, demanding fuel economy, would purchase more tires with shorter wear life in the event that reducing tread thickness is the primary means employed by tire manufacturers to achieve lower rolling resistance.
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From page 121... ...
2000. Economic Impact Analysis for the Proposed Carbon Black Manufacturing NESHAP.
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From page 122... ...
2005. Fuel Efficiency and Motor Vehicle Travel: The Declining Rebound Effect.
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