"Tyre Pressure Project"
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A Proposal to Companies & Local Authorities
etyres is deeply committed to assisting in the overall reduction in environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. A practical application of this is our Green Policy "Tyre pressure project".
Everyone who has ridden a bicycle knows that soft tyres make pedalling harder. The same goes for cars. Under-inflated tyres cause the engine to work harder and so it burns more fuel. Higher fuel consumption means more CO2 emissions and more global warming. The Energy Saving Trust states that correct tyre pressures are an important factor. So the objective of our Green Policy project is to assist as many motorists as possible to have the correct tyre pressure.
This sounds like a fairly inconsequential aspiration. The difficulty, as is often the case with environmental issues, is that individuals see little point in participating because their personal input is tiny and so they perceive it to be pointless.
We at etyres believe the sum of tiny inputs can be huge. We have invested the time and labour in posting the correct tyre pressures for over 1,500 vehicles (Go to Car Makers and choose the make of the car.) But we also believe more is needed, which is why we present the following argument, and ask that Councils and Companies with a commitment to a Green Policy should consider our proposal to allow us to help further.
Here are some facts.
- The AA found that 40% of air pressure gauges in filling stations and garages are inaccurate. (footnote 1)
- 44% Of all UK cars are running with under-inflated tyres (footnote 3)
- Total UK wasted fuel effect of under-inflation 1.77% (footnote 3)
- CO2 emissions by cars in UK (2004): 19.4M tonnes (footnote 2)
- Resulting CO2 emissions: 34,300 tonnes
One would have thought that because motorists pay a high price for their fuel they would keep their tyre pressures correct. However, evidence shows that they do not. There are three main factors for this. Firstly driver apathy. The monetary saving is about £26 per car per year. Worth saving but not a big deal. The second reason is the lack of accurate pressure gauges in garages and filling stations. Thirdly, accuracy cannot be achieved unless the tyres are cold. This factor alone causes errors of approximately 10% (footnote 1). Therefore if you drive to a filling station or garage to top up your tyres the result won't be accurate, even if the gauge show a true reading. So if drivers can't/won't check their tyres what can be done?
An ideal opportunity to check and correct tyre pressures is when the cars are in a company car park. The cars are grouped together and the tyres are cold.
Many large employers are concerned about Global Warming and we need as many of them as possible to help us with this project.
For a nominal contribution to our overheads, one of our mobile teams will visit your offices to check and adjust the tyre pressures of all participating employees. All our mobile tyre fitting vans have correctly calibrated pressure gauges and the tyres on the cars will be cold. After checking we will attach a small windscreen sticker showing the date and the correct pressure for the tyres.
Any organisation interested in participating in this project should contact etyres on
Freephone 0800 028 9000
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Correct Tyre Pressures for Major Car Makes & Models
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Footnotes (/Sources):
1. Garage air pumps fail the tyre pressure test
2. e-Digest Statistics: UK Emissions of greenhouse gases: 1990-2005 (Excel/XLS)
3. Think tyre check-ups show 44% of motorists at risk
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