Bridgestone/Firestone to supply tires for electric vehicles.NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(AutomotiveWire)--Aug. 21, 1995--Bridgestone and Firestone tires are being developed for use on ultra-low-emission vehicles, which are expected to become a significant segment of the automobile market in the Unites States by the beginning of the 21st century. Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. (BFS BFS Bundesamt Für Statistik BfS Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (German: federal office for radiation protection) BFS Bowling for Soup (band) BFS Bankable Feasibility Study BFS British Fertility Society ) is working with several U.S. automakers to provide tires for the environmentally friendly electric and hybrid-power cars currently under development to meet California Air Resources Board California Air Resources Board (CARB) is the "clean air agency" of the state of California in the United States. Established originally in 1967, it is a part of the California Environmental Protection Agency, an organization which reports directly to the California standards, scheduled to go into effect in 1998. The company is already supplying the Firestone Ecology and the Bridgestone Ecopia ultra-low rolling resistance tires for use in competitions and demonstration events. This spring, a vehicle engineered by the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). at Davis won the Department of Energy Advanced Student Hybrid (DASH) Challenge in Los Angeles on Firestone Ecology tires. A George Washington University George Washington University, at Washington, D.C.; coeducational; chartered 1821 as Columbian College (one of the first nonsectarian colleges), opened 1822, became a university in 1873, renamed 1904. solar-powered car equipped with Bridgestone Ecopia tires finished fourth in the 1995 GM Sunrayce, held June 20-29 between Indianapolis and Denver, and third place overall, and first in its class, at the World Solar Car Rallye in Akita, Japan, on July 28-30. This same team will also compete in the World Solar Challenge The World Solar Challenge is a solar powered-car race over 3021 km (1,877 miles) through central Australia from Darwin to Adelaide. The race attracts teams from around the world, most of which are fielded by universities or corporations although some are fielded by high schools. , to be held in Australia in November 1996. "BFS and the worldwide Bridgestone Group are applying their substantial scientific and technical resources to the development of high-performance tires for the next generation of environmentally friendly vehicles," says Hiromi (Mike) Hamaya, president of Bridgestone/Firestone Technology. "In order to meet the requirements of automakers in the U.S., Europe and Japan, we are engineering tires that provide new levels of performance with improved energy efficiency." The Ecopia prototypes for ultra-low-emission passenger cars are being developed in conventional sizes, such as 145/70R12 and 185/65R15. A special tire compound and construction result in 30 percent less rolling resistance and 10 percent less weight than a conventional tire of the same size. Ecopia's tread pattern reduces noise and improves maneuverability on wet roads. BFS is also supplying Bridgestone Ecopia tires to the Trans America Solar Car (TASC TASC The After School Corporation TASC The American Surrogacy Center TASC Treatment Accountability for Safer Communities TASC The Analytic Sciences Corporation TASC Transportation Administrative Service Center TASC Total Administrative Services Corporation ) Challenge '95, a cross-country round trip in a solar-powered electric vehicle developed and driven by a group under the direction of Prof. Seiji Fujinaka of Tokyo Electric University. The TASC Challenge car set out from Seattle on July 25, and is scheduled to traverse 19 states and New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. before returning to Seattle on October 1. In 1991, Bridgestone/Firestone began developing the Firestone Concept EVT EVT Eventueel (Danish: Maybe) EVT Extreme Value Theory (prediction tool for extrapolation of trend graphs) EVT Embedded Visual Tools EVT Emergency Vehicle Technician EVT Erstverkaufstag low-rolling-resistance tire for the Ford Ecostar electric vehicle, a delivery van produced for special fleets in the U.S. and Europe. The Concept EVT and the Firestone Ecology tires in the P195/70R14 size are produced at the company's tire plant in Wilson, N.C. Nashville-based Bridgestone/Firestone is a wholly owned subsidiary Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. of Bridgestone Corporation in Japan, the world's largest tire and rubber company. Bridgestone/Firestone develops, manufactures and markets Bridgestone, Firestone, Dayton and private brand tires as well as a wide range of synthetic rubber and industrial products. CONTACT: Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., Nashville Alan Halbert, 615/872-1463 or 800-872-5000 |
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