ExxonMobil Chemical announced the completion of a manufacturing facility at its existing site in Pensacola, Fla. The facility will provide new capacity for the production of a new tire material technology, Exxcore DVA, that the company says can improve vehicle fuel efficiency from improved tire inflation pressure retention (IPR).
Exxcore DVA combines the flexibility and elasticity of rubber with the low air permeability of plastic. The company touts the new technology as capable of achieving seven to 10 times better permeability and a tire durability improvement greater than 50 percent over standard halobutyl inner liners.
If all vehicle tires on the road in the U.S. had an IPR of 1.5 percent -- which the company says Exxcore DVA can help achieve -- ExxonMobil Chemicals says this would represent a potential annual fuel savings of over 700 million gallons and a reduction in greenhouse gases of over 6 million tons per year, equivalent to taking more than a million cars off the road.
